Sunday marked the 67th time that Denny Hamlin has won a race in the NASCAR Cup Series but not all of them have counted.
The official tally is still at 61, even after a career that includes four victories in The Clash/Shootout, and now his second in the All-Star Race, but he really resents this one not counting.
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He’s counting!
“This one doesn’t count,” Hamlin said with a laugh after his win at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday. “It’s bullshit.”
Hamlin has made a point over the past half decade or so that more than even the elusive Cup Series championship, he’s counting wins approaching the end of his career. First, he wanted to get to 60 and now maybe 70 is the best case scenario.
But once again, he’s won another race that doesn’t get tallied.
“That’s my career,” Hamlin said. “All the wins that really matter don’t count.”
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It must be really nice at this stage of his career, with a $14 million a year salary and hundreds of millions earned over the past two decades to be so indifferent to a million dollar victory, but that isn’t the pillar Hamlin is counting these days.
“It’s cool,” Hamlin said, like someone who didn’t find it that cool. “It will go on your résumé when they’re debating whether to put you in (the Hall of Fame) or not. Yeah, it doesn’t go on the stat sheet.”
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Clearly, Hamlin doesn’t appreciate it now, but this is a career achievement that will matter 20 years from now. No one will remember that it was the weirdest All-Star Race or one that ended up in Dover as an ill-fated bridge to something else.
What history will remember is that Hamlin, at 45-years-old, was still winning the races that paid the most during a season in which he was one of the very best at his craft. It doesn’t count but it counts for something.
At a point where the likes of Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart had tapered off. And at an age where Jeff Gordon had already called it quits, Denny Hamlin has never been more comfortable in his competitive place in the sport.
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“Oddly enough, yes,” Hamlin said. “I mean, it’s very weird and unique at this point in my career that I’m in this place.
“But, like, if we’re going to a track that turns left, I expect to win every single week. This is just very unique, especially in the era where all the cars are so similar, and I’m racing guys that have all my information, they see my setups, things like that, and still can get it done in the end.
“It’s very gratifying from my standpoint to still be competitive at my age.”
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It’s gratifying to Joe Gibbs Racing too, who handed Hamlin one of the most lucrative contracts in the sport right now, despite his advanced age. Team co-owner, Heather Gibbs, says Hamlin has been worth it and then some.
“I would say with Denny, every Monday when we have our driver meetings, it’s kind of like a master class,” Gibbs said. “He has so much wisdom, so much experience. He’s great with giving feedback and talking to, like, Ty (Gibbs). He’ll work with him a lot.
“Having him, he’s still at the top. He definitely hasn’t fallen off. I think we keep joking, ‘Hey, what about another year?’ To have someone to be able to step into the 11 car and win, you’re not going to have that. Denny is kind of a legend in that car.
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“I can’t even imagine thinking of filling someone, putting someone else in that car.”
So Hamlin, who has been so adamant that he wants to retire at the top of his game, is committed to retiring at the end of next season. But when asked if Heather could talk him into another year after that, he didn’t bite.
But he also didn’t say no.
“I mean, I want to finish like this,” Hamlin said. “I do. I do not want to go through the regression. My ego will not allow me to be mediocre. So, I mean, I’m going to have to leave some on the table at some point, right?
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“In order to know that you can win your last race, you’re going to have to go into the next year saying, I’m not doing it, but I could have.”
That’s probably next year, a season that he hopes looks just like this, one in which he’s winning Cup Series races whether they count or not.
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