It might be maddening to be the often unwittingly agonizing center of attention every week, but Denny Hamlin at least has a sense of humor about it.
“I am that guy again,” the Joe Gibbs Racing star said with a chuckle in opening the latest episode of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast. “Three weeks in a row. Some I asked for it, some I did not. But this is three weeks in a row we definitely have been part of the story while finishing 12th, second and 23rd.”
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For those who might have forgotten (which seems implausible if you watched one lap during the second round), here are the recent recurring turns by Hamlin as NASCAR’s leading man in the Cup Series Playoffs:
- At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, he spun Ty Gibbs during a fierce battle in midpack, sparking nonstop debates about teammate etiquette and family ties.
- At Kansas Speedway, he chose to fight tooth and nail for the lead on the last lap against Bubba Wallace (whose 23XI Racing Toyota is co-owned by Hamlin), opening the door for both cars losing at the checkered flag to Chase Elliott (and effectively eliminating Wallace from reaching the next round).
- At the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Hamlin’s last-lap pass on Ross Chastain kept three-time Cup champion Joey Logano in the playoffs (and also led to a perplexed Hamlin getting clobbered in the final corner as Chastain made a desperate move to stay in the championship fight).
After the race, an agitated Hamlin animatedly questioned team members about why they had failed to inform him about Chastain’s points scenario and playoff outlook.
Maybe they just presumed their driver would omnisciently know that the narrative had revolved around him for the third consecutive week.
No driver in 12 seasons of the elimination playoffs has had a larger impact on a single round — and especially in determining which rivals advanced — than the clout commanded by Hamlin in the Round of 12 this year.
“And you know what sucks about all of it? I’ve gotten no DAP points for all of this,” he said sardonically on his podcast.
Logano has been the runaway leader in the Driver Ambassador Program, the first-year program known as DAP, that financially rewards stars for spreading the gospel of NASCAR.
But if there were a lifetime achievement award for media impressions, Hamlin would be an automatic finalist … if not the presumptive favorite among active drivers.
For years, the lightning rod of the Cup Series was Kyle Busch, who often overshadowed Hamlin with everything he did and said over 15 seasons and two championships at JGR. In three seasons since moving to Richard Childress Racing and more than two years without a victory, Busch now exists mostly on the periphery.
Hamlin has emerged as NASCAR’s main character — even without capturing a championship. Even when running a nondescript 15th at the end of a playoff cut race in which he was already locked into the next round.
Remarkably, Hamlin somehow gets thrust into the spotlight and often when he’s done little to deserve it (such as at the Roval).
Amid all the front-facing drama in his life, there is also a tremendous amount happening off the track.
Hamlin has added a third child to his family this season. He is wrestling with the health challenges faced by his father (whom he has alluded to multiple times in post-race interviews). Between race cars and podcast tapings, he seems to be in front of a camera on the daily.
And looming over this omnipresence is the fact that we already know when the curtain will drop on the Denny Hamlin Show (at least as a driver).
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He has signed what he expects to be his final contract through the 2027 season and playfully has noted he knows exactly how many points races are left in his Cup career (the counter currently stands at 76).
For many drivers, that might be a detriment. For Hamlin, it’s a net positive. When the stakes are high, he usually thrives amid chaos.
It’s a quality that he shares with his NASCAR business partner. Michael Jordan is an NBA legend known as perhaps the most mentally tough pro athlete in history. In “The Last Dance” documentary series, Jordan and his Chicago Bulls were the NBA’s main characters during their run of six championships.
A title is virtually the only way that Hamlin hasn’t been the center of attention in NASCAR.
Yet it’s a starring role that seems inevitable.
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