By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON, S.C. – If Denny Hamlin’s win a week ago at Martinsville, Va. was a competitive relief, his victory Sunday at Darlington, S.C. was championship swagger.
A week ago he ended a 31-race winless streak to take a convincing win at the Martinsville half-miler. And on Sunday, the veteran came through in the closing laps of the Goodyear 400 at Darlington, a track he was already the winningest active driver (five) and marked the first time since 2012 that Hamlin had won back-to-back races.
The early-season multiple wins give Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team a different sort of competitive energy. And this week heads to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway as the defending winner of the Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Following his victory Sunday night, Hamlin acknowledged the team is vibing – winning when it’s running well (Martinsville) and winning when it’s not necessarily the best car (Darlington).
Hamlin’s 56th NASCAR Cup Series trophy Sunday came after he led only 10 laps compared to Hendrick Motorsports’ driver William Byron who led a career high 243 of the 297 laps, won both Stage 1 and 2 and started from pole position.
Reminded of this, Hamlin smiled and recalled races where he also led hundreds of laps but did not celebrate in Victory Lane.
“[Today’s win] shows up the same in the stats column,” he offered. “No one will ever remember years from now. They’re just going to know we won Darlington, and they’ll forget why, which is unfortunate for them [Byron],” Hamlin allowed.
“Last week, I talked about how this is one you pound the chest, we kicked everyone’s ass, I kicked everyone’s ass,” Hamlin said comparing Sunday’s win to his victory at Martinsville where he led 274 of the 400 laps.
“Do I feel that way today? I don’t (smiling). It still feels good. It just doesn’t have the feel when you go out and you are dominate.”
There is still plenty of time for that, however.
Not only has Hamlin long proven himself perpetually championship caliber – his 56-wins – including three Daytona 500 trophies – are second most on the grid. But he has a couple of other huge benefits that few in the sport can claim. His team owner is three-time Super Bowl winning NFL Hall of Fame Coach and NASCAR Hall of Fame owner Joe Gibbs. And Hamlin co-owns the 23XI Racing team with NBA legend Michael Jordan.
Being around that rarefied air of sporting success is a stroke of fortune that pays off in massive ways – both subtle and obvious. Excellence is expected and it’s a good bet that surrounding yourself with champions creates a sort of competitive osmosis.
The expectations are higher and that is where Hamlin’s own leadership comes in. His pit crew proved itself top-shelf, crucially getting him out first on the final pit stop and position him for a chance to claim the overtime win.
Momentum has certainly shifted and the 44-year-old Hamlin is there to ride it. He is a legitimate pick to win any race, any week, any venue. And his two wins in only eight races this season have had a significant effect on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship outlook with Hamlin moving up four positions into second place – 49 points behind Sunday’s runner-up Byron. It’s the biggest move forward this week of any driver in the series.
“It’s great the team got me one here,” Hamlin said. “If we can win races where we have a seventh to 10th place car, I feel good about going out there and executing when we’ve got the best car.
“Obviously, our pit crew is well and capable of keeping us up front. I can still do it. I can still do it at a high level. I like our outlook to win a lot of races this year.”
