A swift car, an able crew chief, and a reliable team, and yet, Denny Hamlin missed his chance at winning the Championship this year. The #11 pilot did have a feeling in his gut that 2023 was their year, but alas, Hamlin fell prey to the ruthless competition in the final elimination race of the round of 8.

However, Denny Hamlin’s name in the sport of NASCAR cannot be determined solely by the fact that he hasn’t won a championship. Throughout a career spanning over almost two decades with Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin has built his foundation as one of the stalwarts of stock car racing. So much so that even an extremely revered veteran in the arena of NASCAR predicted Hamlin’s performance in the upcoming season.

This Hall of Famer was confident that Denny Hamlin will come back stronger next year

Only two spots were up for grabs going into Martinsville Speedway and none of the two JGR drivers could reserve one of them. It must have hurt pretty bad to be this close to winning and yet not win. However, during his post-race interview, Denny Hamlin didn’t look depressed. Yes, he was disappointed, but he didn’t slack off from admitting that he was happy about the way his FedEx Toyota team worked that day.

And with that, Denny prepares to rebound and reset himself for 2024. It’s not a shock that Denny Hamlin, the most vocal athlete in NASCAR as of today, is confident about his future. And he did not even hesitate to reveal that his immediate plan would be to win at Phoenix. Even the 1999 Cup Series Champion  Dale Jarrett admitted that there’s practically nothing that can make Denny back down.

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In a conversation with Nate Ryan of NBC Sports, Jarrett gave Denny Hamlin the title of “great competitor”. Ryan went back in time and reflected on the career of Dale Jarrett hinting at the interesting similarity between Hamlin and Jarrett while they were on the verge of winning a championship. The only difference was, that one won and the other didn’t.

Back in 1999 when he won his championship, Jarrett was about to turn 43 just like Denny is turning 43 next month and was essentially in a spot to replicate the history that Jarrett made 25 years ago. Jarrett sure could relate. However, in today’s world of racing, there are more youngsters who have a heightened hunger to win, so it could be a little difficult for Hamlin to fight against them.

Nevertheless, Jarrett said, “He knows what he has to do to get it done. He will be a part of the championship and the playoffs next year and it may pop up…maybe it’s not the best regular season that Denny will have but I’ll guarantee you they will see his name through the first couple of rounds with an opportunity to go into the round of 8.”

“He is just so talented that he’s going to be able to do this again. The off-season gives you time to reflect and look ahead and get yourself ready,” he explained.

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Denny Hamlin admitted that he did everything he could have done to win and, looking back at his season; he has no regrets. It almost felt like he wasn’t sad at all and that he was hopeful of coming back better next year. Even though Sunday’s Xfinity 500 saw a tussle between Ryan Blaney and himself, the 7-time Pocono winner gave his rival his due respect.

Hamlin regarded Team Penske’s car as the fastest in the grid

Despite trying hard, Denny Hamlin couldn’t manage to get anywhere above a P3 finish as the checkered flag came out for the 500-lap race. Nevertheless, the way he rebounded from his heartbreaking DNF from last weekend at Homestead-Miami pm and finished first and second in Stages 1 and 2, was indeed commendable. On top of that, Denny Hamlin also led a race-high 156 laps, 11 more than Blaney.

Hamlin was merely 4.140 seconds slower than Ryan Blaney’s Ford Mustang. After the race, Hamlin told NASCAR, “He definitely had the best car. We were next in line.” Seeing the close competition, even Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart exclaimed during the cool-down lap, “Missed it by eight points. Had a good race, just let ourselves down last week, but the effort was there. Yet another year where we should have made it and didn’t.”

Hamlin had no complaints whatsoever. He found solace in the fact that it is indeed a game of luck and having a fast car doesn’t always work out toward securing the win. “I just wouldn’t do anything different,” he said, “There’s nothing I could have done, I feel like, through these playoffs to be any different. And then on a day where we had to have a phenomenal day, we did; it just, it wasn’t quite good enough because we were in such a hole last week.”

Wouldn’t it be great if Denny Hamlin wins next week at Phoenix? Surely it would be a bit disheartening for the Champion to be decided based on points, but at least, Hamlin could end the year on a high note.

Denny Hamlin Takes a Mean Jab At His Championship Drought As NASCAR Insider Hopes to “Eventually Get it Right”