Denny Hamlin has scored 46 race wins but no championship (Photo: Getty Images)
There is no doubt that Denny Hamlin is one of the top drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Chesterfield, Virginia native has scored a total of race 46 victories at the top level of the sport including three Daytona 500 triumphs. And more, the Joe Gibbs Racing pilot is a perennial championship contender. That said, however, the 40-year-old star has never been able to parlay his ability to contend for a championship into an actual championship.
Hamlin’s placements in the final series standings throughout his career have been nothing short of remarkable. He was second in the final rundown in 2010, third in 2006 and 2014, and has placed fourth at the end of each of the past two campaigns. And once again in 2021, the No. 11 Toyota driver and team find themselves going to the finale with a chance to claim championship glory.
But even with all of that success, there have been no first-place finishes in the standings.
With that said, one has to wonder just how many more chances Hamlin will have to win a title should this time not work out. After all, he will turn 41 just days after the final race in Phoenix so age will start to become a factor in the not too distant future. But on the bright side, history does provide instances of drivers who have won championships at older ages.
Richard Petty(1979), Dale Earnhardt(1994), and Dale Jarrett(1999) are three examples of drivers who won a title in their forties. Bobby Allison was the sport’s oldest champ at the age of 45 when he won his first and only Cup in 1983. Still, if Hamlin should lose out this time around, one has to believe his chances of achieving that ultimate goal are diminishing, particularly in a sport that seems to be trending in a younger direction.
And while there are those examples of older champions, there are far more drivers who were crowned at younger ages. The past three champions have an average age of just over 28. Joey Logano was 28 will he won out in 2018, Kyle Busch was 34 in 2019, and Chase Elliott was but a mere 24 last season.
Obviously, the best way for Hamlin to put the question of “Will he ever win a championship?” to rest is to go ahead and claim it this weekend in Phoenix. But if he does not, the odds of him ever doing so are beginning to stack up against him.
The ‘best driver to never win a championship’ could become a permanent moniker.
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association
Respond to this piece on Twitter –> @RichardAllenIDR
or on Facebook –> InsideCircleTrack/Facebook