Denny Hamlin is coming off his first win of the season this past Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, positioning himself higher in the NASCAR standings and taking sole possession of the 10th-most Cup Series wins of all time. At 45 years old, there’s one more all-time great he thinks he might end up passing.
On Monday’s episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin shared that he thinks he’ll probably finish with 67 career wins on the Cup Series based on his current place and plans to retire from full-time racing after the 2027 NASCAR season.
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“I think I’m going to fall on 67, that’s where I think it ends more than likely. That’s just by the numbers. That’s not…oh I feel this, I feel that. That’s just where the numbers land averaging what I average.”
Denny Hamlin on how many wins he thinks he’ll finish with
With Sunday’s victory in the Pennzoil 400, Denny Hamlin overtook Kevin Harvick (60 wins) for sole possession of 10th place on the all-time list. He now ranks second among active drivers in Cup Series wins (61), only trailing Kyle Busch (63 wins).
A few years ago, Hamlin even coming close to Busch on the all-time Cup Series wins leaderboard seemed unthinkable. However, as Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck highlighted on The Teardown, the gap has narrowed dramatically in the last three seasons.
Related: Denny Hamlin Credits Kyle Busch for Career Development
Amid Busch’s 98-race winless streak in the Cup Series, Hamlin has won 12 races. With Busch stuck in the No. 8 car for the rest of the season and wildly underperforming with Richard Childress Racing, it seems very likely that Hamlin will surpass Busch this season. He needs just three more wins to do it, and he’s averaged four wins per season in the last three years.
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Perhaps with a change of scenery in 2027, Busch can overtake Hamlin again for the ninth-most Cup wins in NASCAR history. Both will finish well behind Dale Earnhardt (76), but the fact that Hamlin is now in a position where he could reach 67 wins is something no one saw coming a few years ago.
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