Denny Hamlin has been racing at NASCAR's highest level for a long time. He made his first playoff appearance in 2006, and since then, he has been a part of the champion battle every single year except for 2013 (he missed several races due to a back injury that year).
“It’s just another chance to roll the dice," said Hamlin ahead of his 19th attempt to win NASCAR's biggest prize, taking part in Playoff Media Day. "That’s it. I don’t feel any better or any worse than what I have last year or the year before that or the year before that. They’re all very, very similar. I feel as though our team is as strong as it’s ever been, but we’ve seen in the short sample size, it’s just a matter of whether you get unlucky at times or you catch a caution at the right time or not. Do you stub your toe on pit road? Those are the small things that decide whether you move on in the playoffs or not.”
Since the introduction of the current elimination-style format, Hamlin has made the Championship 4 four times, but not since the 2021 season. And while he truly wants to become a champion, Hamlin has another goal he wants to reach in 2025 -- 60 career wins.
Hamlin is just two race wins away from that milestone, which would put him inside the top ten on the all-time wins list. “I’d love for it to happen at Martinsville," said Hamlin, who is originally from Virginia. "I think that would be a really big one for me just being a short track that I felt so strong at for so many years and ultimately a track that meant a lot to my short track upbringing.”
But in the background of this title fight is an even bigger battle. The contentious lawsuit between 23XI Racing (which Hamlin co-owns), Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR is just a few months away from going to trial. The teams have been stripped of their charters, and this week, they are making one final push to get them back and prevent the sanctioning body from selling these charters to other teams.
Lawsuit isn't a distraction
Surely, that's a major distraction for the driver of the No. 11 Toyota, right? Apparently not.
When asked how he doesn't let it impact his day job as a full-time driver at the highest level of the sport, Hamlin said on Wednesday: “Because I want to win the championship. I want to win 60 or more races and so that is my number one goal and so I’m not going to let anyone distract me from that no matter what their motivations might be.”
He also stated that NASCAR officials at the track are very fair, but "the others" are the ones who are treating his team unfairly (likely referring to NASCAR leadership). He's also not surprised that the legal battle has carried on for as long as it has, and there appears to be no path towards reconciliation before the trial in December.
But this also isn't new for them. This lawsuit hung over the 2024 playoffs as well, and yet, 23XI Racing made the Championship 4 for the very first time with Tyler Reddick.
