Last weekend, Denny Hamlin officially banished the demons of 2025 with a win at Las Vegas. He was probably 10 laps away from finally getting the monkey off his back, but fate had other ideas. A late caution and a questionable strategy meant that Hamlin lost once again. However, he has since managed to pick himself back up to try once again. Needless to say, he announced his intention of gunning for the title once again, in Vegas.

Denny Hamlin is on the hunt for records

Thanks to his Vegas win, the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has overtaken Kevin Harvick on the win tally. In a recent episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin outlined his next goal. In the coming week, NASCAR heads to Darlington, followed by Martinsville, Bristol, Kansas, and Talladega.

Hamlin said on his podcast, “Get another win, that’s the goal. One of those three. Talladega, I wish, guys. I’m trying everything when it comes to superspeedway racing. Just not getting the proper finishes. I’m trying to run up front as much as I can. Doesn’t matter, crash. Next three races, how many points?. If I said you get 150 points, it’d be 50-50-50. We would take that, but also I mean bigger than the next three races.”

The JGR star believes that his best chance of racking up more wins is either at Darlington or the two short tracks. He acknowledged that Talladega is way too unpredictable. This is likely because it is a superspeedway, and that type of racing is unpredictable, just like at Daytona. Hamlin has won at Darlington, Bristol, and Martinsville in the past, so he should be a favorite once again. Reddick has proven that after clinching one win, a driver can build momentum and win more races.

He also dropped a hint about his future in NASCA.R

Now, Denny Hamlin is no spring chicken and is steadily approaching the twilight of his career. At the age of 45, who knows how long he has left in the tank and can keep performing at the highest level. Hamlin admitted that there will come a time when he will stop winning, and then eventually he will call time on his career.

He said, “Right, I thought that realistically, I think I’m going to fall at 67, that’s where I think it ends. Until the end of next year, more than likely 67. That’s just by the numbers, that’s not any, ‘OH,h I feel this, I feel that.’ That’s just where the numbers land, averaging 3-4 wins a year.”

The next person on his hit list is former teammate and 2-time Cup champion Kyle Busch. Busch is 5 years younger and has 63 wins, but does not look like he is adding to that tally any time soon. He has struggled a lot with Richard Childress Racing, enduring two winless seasons, ns and this year could be a third. That is, unless the organisation has a dramatic turnaround and he gets back in Victory Lane.

Coming back to Denny Hamlin, though, he is actually in a pretty good position, championship-wise. After his Pennzoil 400 triumph, he sits in 4th place in the standings. This puts him behind the 23XI Racing duo of Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, and Phoenix winner, Ryan Blaney. All in all, it is a great time for Hamlin, as he is in the title fight, as are two of his drivers.

Thabeingig said, the season is long, and anything can happen in the next few races to shake up the order. Hendrick Motorsports has been looking strong, and Team Penske isn’t too far behind. Also, if 23XI is any indication, other Chevy, Ford, and Toyota teams are well and truly in the mix.