It still stings. Even after Denny Hamlin’s big win at Las Vegas Sunday – and it was a big win, huge even – the disappointment still lingers. For Hamlin and his crew chief, Chris Gayle, it bubbled to the surface once again while the two were celebrating Hamlin’s 61st career victory.
It was a monumental achievement. It moved Hamlin out of a tie with Kevin Harvick on NASCAR’s all-time winners list and put him in sole possession of 10th place.
Just ahead is Kyle Busch with 63 wins and Hamlin could very well pass him before the season ends because outside of the superspeedways, Busch has no realistic shot at winning anyplace else.
And that has nothing to do with the driver and everything to do with Richard Childress Racing, which no longer builds cars that can contend and win races on regular tracks.
“It’s very gratifying because I saw, like, the legendary Mount Rushmore guys, I’ve raced against them,” Hamlin said of his 61st win, according to NASCAR’s website.
Hamlin was referring to Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Gordon is third all-time in wins with 93. Johnson is tied for sixth with 83 along with Cale Yarborough. “I think probably there’s at least two on Mount Rushmore I got to race against and I know how good they are,” Hamlin added.
“Winning your first race of the season is always gratifying,” Hamlin continued. “I’m no fool. I know my reactions are deteriorating. There’s all kinds of things that are deteriorating.
“Father Time is undefeated,” Hamlin, who will be 46 Nov. 18th, remarked. “Three months is a long time to be off. It’s like ‘Okay, am I still at the level that I was last year?’
“Today (last Sunday) confirmed that nothing has changed, which is really good” Hamlin said. “It’s a good sign. We’re still able to do it (race) at a really, really high level. So it’s just gratifying to me that I’m still getting it done at this age.”
But then you look up and there’s that black cloud again. The 2025 NASCAR championship that Hamlin deserved to win and should have won but lost because of NASCAR’s convoluted points system.
The Old Guy Sport competition index, which is a much better measure of how good teams are because it rewards racing over finishing, the primary criteria in the NASCAR points system, had Hamlin as the clear winner in 2025 with 677 points. Kyle Larson, NASCAR’s champ, was second with 530.
Four drivers entered the final race at Phoenix with a shot at the NASCAR title, and Hamlin dominated on the track, leading 208 of the 319 laps. But when Gale opted for a four-tire change instead of two on the last pit stop, Hamlin, who had come in first, lost track position and went out 10th, and he simply didn’t have enough time to make up the ground he had lost.
“We didn’t talk about it,” Hamlin, who has never won a championship, commented on NASCAR’s website. “If we did it was like 15 seconds. I think he might have…like I said, I don’t care,” Hamlin continued.
“It’s fine. I don’t need any explanation,” Hamlin went on. “We’re going to win and lose together. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Chris Gayle for these seven wins over the course of these 40 races or so we’ve been together.
“He’s just a great guy,” Hamlin said. “So underrated in what he does. I’m glad he’s getting the wins now that he deserves.”
For Gayle, it was tougher. He knew his four-tire call had cost Hamlin a championship. “Leaving Phoenix, that was probably the most dejected I’ve been in my life from a personal standpoint, from a business standpoint, right?” he said.
“I mean I probably sat around for three days rethinking everything I could have done. Then you go through those three days of where you’re kicking yourself. What are you going to do about it? You get over it.
“How am I going to react to this?” Gayle went on. “I could let it bother me forever. That’s not going to happen. I can move on, learn from it.
“In hindsight, seeing the bigger picture, putting it all on myself, I could have made some different decisions but…”
But last year is last year. This year, it looks like Gayle and Hamlin will get another chance, and this time maybe it will work out. Hamlin is as good as anybody at what he does and so is Gayle. They need to do this soon, though, because Father Time won’t wait forever.
NASCAR NOTES
Three most likely winners at Darlington: 1-Christopher Bell, 2-Kyle Larson, 3-Denny Hamlin. Last year’s winner of Darlington spring race: Hamlin. Top five in Darlington spring race: 1-Hamlin, 2-William Byron, 3-Bell, 4-Tyler Reddick, 5-Ryan Blaney.
Last week’s Old Guy Sport Vegas picks: 1-Hamlin, 2-Chase Briscoe, 3-Blaney. Vegas winner: Hamlin. OGS season record, 2-1.
OGS competition index top 10 after three races: 1-Bell 115 points, 2-Hamlin 86, 3-Reddick 75, 4-Blaney 54, 5-Ty Gibbs 52, 6-Shane van Gisbergen 41, Larson 41, 8-Chase Elliott 40, 9-Byron 35, 10-Michael McDowell 15.
OGS top 10 on intermediate tracks (tracks most like Darlington): 1-Hamlin 75, 2-Elliott 40, 3-Byron 34, 4-Bell 24, 5-Larson 11, 6-Gibbs 10, 7-Blaney 1, Logano 1, Brad Keselowski 1.
