Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr have been close for a long time. Despite Hamlin’s persona as NASCAR’s heel, Dale Jr is one of the drivers he has been close to on and off the track. The pair have been quite similar when their careers are compared as well. Both have been close to winning the title several times and are considered among the best drivers to have never won the championship.

However, success has yet to elude the duo. Apart from the Cup Series champion’s trophy, the duo have won their fair share of races and given the fans some memories to reminisce upon. One of the crown jewels of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s career is his maiden Daytona 500 win in 2004. Denny Hamlin made his Cup Series debut the following year, but that didn’t stop him from being a part of Dale Jr’s entourage. Hamlin even revealed to the world a never-heard-before incident on X recently.

Dale Earnhardt Jr cleans his trophy cabinet

In 1998, Dale Earnhardt won his first and only Daytona 500 race. For a driver of his caliber and success, it seemed an anomaly that ‘The Intimidator’ had never won the Great American race before. However, the same speedway turned out to be fatal for the driver just three years later, which has been marked as a dark day ever since. Four years after the life-threatening crash, Dale Jr also arrived at the Daytona International Speedway to try his luck. And his fans certainly wished to see the legacy of Dale Sr continue through his son, which it did.

Coming into the race as a fan favorite to claim a maiden Daytona 500 victory, the Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver expertly steered away from hard-hitting rivals like Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart in the front row. As Dale Earnhardt Jr. parked his car in the victory lane, Denny Hamlin was waiting for him with gleaming eyes.

The #11 driver reminded Dale Jr of an incident after the latter tweet about Amy Earnhardt cleaning the 2004 Daytona 500 trophy. Dale Earnhardt Jr had tweeted, “Amy decided to clean up the 2004 Daytona trophy and it still had red Gatorade on it. 20 years. Looks good as new.” Denny responded with an image of him and Dale Jr, along with his team, in the victory lane and wrote, “I carried it to your bus shortly after.”

In 2004, Denny Hamlin was yet to make his Cup Series debut. However, he had often competed against Dale Earnhardt Jr in online racing games. This encounter created a bond between the two, eventually earning the JGR #11 driver an invite to the victory lane celebrations. Reminiscing about the incident, Hamlin has also revealed previously that once he felt he’d jinxed himself by being the trophy carrier for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Well, that proved to be a myth as Hamlin succeeded in clinching the Daytona 500 trophy on three occasions. However, Hamlin’s first win in the Great American race was a difficult affair. Beating his current teammate, Martin Truex Jr for the win was certainly daunting.

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An intense battle for Denny Hamlin’s first Daytona 500 win

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The JGR No.11 driver had to wait 12 years before claiming a Daytona 500 victory in 2016. On the other hand, his team owner Joe Gibbs had not won the Daytona 500 since 1993. The pair wanted to win as much as any other driver on the grid. The driver closest to denying Hamlin his win was his soon-to-be partner Martin Truex Jr.

Currently, Hamlin and Truex Jr are considered the two pillars of JGR, bringing experience and skill to their side. However, in 2017, they locked horns against each other in the final lap of the Daytona 500 to win the biggest race of their careers. In the final lap, Hamlin was placed fourth as he entered the backstretch.

Simultaneously, 2014 Cup Series champ Kevin Harvick wanted a piece of the lead and pushed for a pass on leader Matt Kenseth. However, Hamlin moved inside to block Harvick. This opened a small window for Truex Jr to progress to the lead. Kenseth was eventually relegated to P14 after losing control and speed in the final lap.

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The race’s last half-mile was a drag racing contest between the Furniture Row Racing star and Hamlin. Hamlin beat Truex Jr by a margin smaller than six inches as the checkered flag waved. Unaware that he’d won the race, Denny Hamlin spoke in the post-race interview, “I don’t remember it, honestly. I don’t know what happened. I can’t even figure out what I did, but it all just came together.”

After a thorough replaying session, race officials confirmed that Denny Hamlin had won by a hundredth of a second. The margin remains the closest Daytona 500 victory in NASCAR history. It was indeed a race to be remembered for years to come.