“It’s the biggest sample size we have in the sport, so that’s why I think it’s the most legitimate.” In July, Denny Hamlin declared that the regular season is an accurate measure of performance rather than the playoffs. In doing so, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver boldly rejected NASCAR’s playoff system, featuring 10 races where championship contenders become desperate. Hence, even though 2025 may be one of the few chances left to attain the Cup Series’ highest glory, the 44-year-old veteran is not bothered.

NASCAR is heading to Darlington Raceway this weekend, a racetrack where Denny Hamlin won in April. With five wins in total, the speedster is the winningest driver at ‘The Lady in Black.’ But while Darlington, Gateway, and Bristol do not worry him, the tracks in the subsequent round do.

Denny Hamlin sheds light on the real concern

Ryan Blaney gave a fitting end to the regular season euphoria. He won the Coke Zero Sugar 400, his season’s second victory after Nashville. Blaney’s top competitors also had exhilarating runs. Christopher Bell had a three-race winning streak at the very start, and Shane van Gisbergen fetched four road course wins in a row. Denny Hamlin kept up his 19-year streak of picking up victories no matter the car model and no matter the rules. However, all these spectacular achievements will come to naught as the playoffs start, as the postseason has a throbbing life of its own. In fact, it is so passionate that most drivers lose the poise and balance with which they had performed so well in the regular season. And that is exactly why Denny Hamlin does not want to get caught up in the championship hype.

Given the plethora of racetracks in the four-round playoffs and the cutthroat elimination style, he chooses calm over a reckless pursuit of the title. Denny Hamlin outlined his approach on the NASCAR Playoff Media Day: “It’s just another chance to roll the dice. That’s it. I don’t feel any better or any worse than what I had last year or the year before that or the year before that. They’re all very, very similar. I feel as though our team is as strong as it’s ever been, but we’ve seen in the short sample size, it’s just a matter of whether you get unlucky at times or you catch a caution at the right time or not. Do you stub your toe on pit road? Those are the small things that decide whether you move on in the playoffs or not.”

Since the introduction of the current elimination-style format, Denny Hamlin has cracked the Championship 4 only four times. To break his drab streak that has persisted since 2021, Hamlin knows his strengths and weaknesses. He said, “Our strengths are going to be the conventional ovals, anything that turns left…The challenge would be obviously Talladega. I don’t think I’ve avoided a superspeedway wreck in about 10 years now, or it feels that way… Then, what happens at the Roval right…what points position you’re in before you get there?”

Clearly, Denny Hamlin is taking the championship challenge with a steady hand. However, he does have a fervent desire for another achievement.

Turning the victory into a cherished memory

Denny Hamlin had been on a roll this season. He won four races at Martinsville, Darlington, Michigan, and Dover. But what stood out to him the most was the first one. With a robust short-track racing background, Hamlin ranks second among active drivers with the most wins of this type of track. He owns 15 victories, of which 6 were clinched at Martinsville. This year, he held off teammate Christopher Bell to fetch his 6th win at the Paperclip after a 10-year winless drought. He was raised a few hours away in the Richmond suburb of Chesterfield. Hamlin said the win “certainly felt like the old days.”

Hence, the 58-time Cup race winner knows where he wants to clinch his 60th victory – Martinsville Speedway. In fact, that matters more to Denny Hamlin than another shot at the championship. The Virginia native told the press, “I’d love for it to happen at Martinsville. I think that would be a really big one for me, just being a short track that I felt so strong at for so many years, and ultimately a track that meant a lot to my short track upbringing.” Once he succeeds, Hamlin will tie 2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick for career victories. And he will stand tall with 7 Martinsville wins.

With the playoffs fast approaching, we can only wait and see what magic Denny Hamlin conjures. Let’s see if he can fulfil his ambition or not.