By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
SPEEDWAY, Ind.— Denny Hamlin will continue his pursuit of significant NASCAR achievements for at least two more seasons after signing a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing.
The team announced on Friday that Hamlin will continue to drive the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE in the NASCAR Cup Series. Hamlin acknowledged during a Friday question-and-answer session with reporters that the term of the extension is two years.
Hamlin is the longest-tenured driver in JGR history, having made all 706 of his career Cup starts with the organization. Hamlin won twice from the pole at Pocono Raceway during his 2006 rookie season and has gone on to post 58 career victories in NASCAR’s top division.
Hamlin is 11th on the all-time win list, two victories behind Kevin Harvick in 10th. Among full-time active drivers, he’s second behind Kyle Busch, who has won 63 times.
The 44-year-old driver from Chesterfield, Va., has said on more than one occasion that his foremost goal in Cup racing is to crack the top 10 on the career list.
“I just love that I’m able to still do it at a high level,” Hamlin said after winning last Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. “I mean, every morning when I wake up, I’m just hoping I still got what I had yesterday, you know? You just never know when you get to this age, right?
“Last night I was looking at the TV. It was a little fuzzy. I think I was just tired. Oh, man, I’m not losing my eyesight, am I? I get paranoid about little things that might hamper my ability to do things at a high level at my job. Every time I get in, like the first stage, I’m just driving through cars, it’s like, ‘We’re still good.’”
Hamlin acknowledged that this extension may be his final contract to drive in the Cup Series, depending on a self-evaluation of his skills. And he explained why he re-upped for two years instead of three.
“For me, three years… who knows what could happen three years from now?” Hamlin said. “I just want to make sure I give them the proper time and make sure I commit to them, not for one year, (but) for multiple years, let them continue to build the program…
“If I was 26, I would take 10 years, but I want to make sure I’m still at my peak form in my final year. That could be tailing off in three years, and I don’t want that.”
Hamlin has never won a series championship, but he finished second to Jimmie Johnson in 2010 and has qualified for the Championship 4 five times since the current elimination Playoff format was adopted in 2014.
Hamlin said one of his remaining goals is to add to his total of Crown Jewel races. He has three DAYTONA 500s to his credit (2016, 2019 and 2020), three Southern 500s (2010, 2017 and 2021) and a Coca-Cola 600 (2022).
“I want to be high on the list of Crown Jewel winners,” Hamlin said. “So, if I can get a couple more of those and put myself well into the 60s (win total), if not a bigger number, then I’m going to be happy.”
