Ever since Joe Gibbs Racing made its debut in 1992, they have changed NASCAR’s competitive landscape. Over the years, the team has always had some spearheading legends like Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte, who didn’t just dominate with their driving alone, but carried the team on their shoulders through their leadership and hands-on participation. In today’s era, for JGR, that figure is Denny Hamlin.

Denny Hamlin’s rise in his career has been synonymous with JGR’s rise itself. He’s someone who’s not just achieved greatness with his driving alone, but is also increasingly viewed as the guiding force within their garage. And Kevin Harvick explains why Hamlin is to JGR what the legendary Jeff Gordon has been to Hendrick Motorsports.

Hamlin guides, not just drives

While speaking on Happy Hour, Kevin Harvick started a discussion about how there are three to four drivers that stand out in the garage, and are better than the rest. The prime example he gave was of the No. 11 Toyota driver.

“Denny Hamlin is one of the best that you’ll ever seen at guiding his team to getting to where he needs to be. With the car, with the commitment, with the time, with the effort, you know, he’s he’s just better at that. And, you know, I think that’s why the great teams wind up great.”

Hamlin does exactly that. And when he guides the team, it’s not just superficial talk. He talks numbers and data, and has enough substance to make the other person believe he knows his job well. “Every meeting we have, he’s always got data to back up whatever he’s talking about,” his teammate Chase Briscoe said about him.

On the public side, too, in his weekly Actions Detrimental episodes, among all things, he’s often seen discussing technical stuff and going deep into issues, whether it’s dissecting his team’s setups, car breakdowns, or anything of that nature.

His crew chief, Chris Gayle, has mentioned before how Hamlin shows up “Monday mornings inside a dark and windowless room staring at computer‑generated images” and devotes enough time to the simulators.

To prove his point, Harvick took the 2025 Cup Series Championship winner, Kyle Larson, as an example. He said that Larson, though an incredible driver, doesn’t possess the leadership or guiding skills in him. “So, you know, you look at, even look at Larson, right? Like, he doesn’t seem like the guy that’s gonna be the Jeff Gordon type to guide the ship…And every organization that is great has that guy. Denny Hamlin is that guy.”

There it is. Hamlin is that guy. He is the Jeff Gordon of JGR, as Harvick says. Gordon, a four-time Cup champion during his time, wasn’t just an excellent driver. He played a key role in shaping the team’s culture and strategy. Rick Hendrick had also mentioned how Gordon spent a lot of time acting as a conduit between crew chiefs and drivers, for healthier relationships within the garage.

Even after retiring full-time, Gordon continues to influence Hendrick as vice-chairman, guiding both competition and organizational decisions.

Like Gordon, Hamlin also goes beyond driving, using his experience and insight to mentor his teammates, guide the car setups in the JGR camp, and influence their team strategy. In fact, it’s not limited to just Joe Gibbs Racing.

Tyler Reddick, his 23-XI employee, had mentioned how Hamlin has a very high racing IQ.

“I feel like the last couple years, he’s done more sharing of that with everybody with the platforms that he uses. For me, he’s really helped me understand short-track racing. He’s helped me become a more well-rounded driver,” said Reddick.

Kevin Harvick also mentioned the cons of not having a pillar-like figure like this in a team, whether it’s Hamlin or Gordon. “I still believe that one of the biggest things, one of the biggest downfalls of Jimmy Johnson’s at the end of Jimmy Johnson’s career, was the fact that Jeff Gordon wasn’t in the building guiding the ship with the cars and the parts and the pieces to keep the engines and the cars and the parts going in the right directions to help make good decisions.”

Harvick’s point shows what a critical role a veteran leader like Gordon plays in keeping a team united and competitive. Without someone like Gordon present, Johnson’s team struggled in all aspects. So, the entire point is, it’s not just about having individual talent, it’s about having a central figure like Denny Hamlin or Jeff Gordon, who ensures the entire team works in sync.

Meanwhile, aside from comparing Hamlin’s role, he also compared the two finale losses this weekend.

Zilisch’s loss stings Harvick more

Comparing the Cup and Xfinity losses of Denny Hamlin and Connor Zilisch, Harvick said, “Same type of pain that I had for Denny Hamlin, I had times 10 for Connor Zilisch. I mean, he had one of the best Xfinity seasons that you can possibly ever have. Two injuries. Fell out of a car, broke a collarbone…he just kept winning.”

That’s true. Fans are going crazy with Hamlin’s loss, who had six wins, but Zilisch had ten. Not just that, he had an 18-race consecutive top 5 streak as well. With a broken collarbone at Watkins Glen, he secured the regular-season championship and Rookie of the Year honors. Naturally, his loss to Jesse Love hurts Harvick more. All thanks to the current playoff system.

“This is by far the toughest scenario of the system,” Harvick explained, pointing at the emotional and competitive pressure created by the playoff format.

Looking ahead, as he moves to the Cup Series next year, Harvick kind of warned, saying, “That’s the closest that he’s been to experiencing the pressure and the emotion that will come with what comes on Sunday because it’ll be times 10 in every category.”