“I just can’t imagine there’s a win bigger for me than this one,” said Denny Hamlin after snatching his 60th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Though he led just nine laps, the timing of those gave him his sixth win of the season and tied him with Kevin Harvick for 10th on the all-time wins list. At 44, with 60 wins, Hamlin now stares down Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s 76 victories. But despite this magnificent milestone, why won’t Hamlin call himself elite?

What hits harder, though, is how Hamlin carries that weight into year 20, still sharp as his 2010 runner-up bid. With three Daytona 500s and a playoff spot every year since 2014, and with only 16 Cup race wins behind “The Intimidator,” Hamlin has already built a legacy for himself, but he still finds himself “not one of the greats.”

Denny Hamlin’s shadow of self-doubt

Denny Hamlin’s 60th win didn’t just etch his name deeper into NASCAR’s stone; it thrust him beside the ghosts he raced against, guys like Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, who defined eras. But on his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin laid bare the self-doubts that linger:

“For me personally, what does it mean? It’s like I still feel like when I look at the names on the list that I’m now a part of for the top 10, I feel like my name does stick out as not one of the greats of the sport,” he admitted, voice steady but laced with that Virginia grit.

It’s a raw confession from a driver who’s logged 16,060 laps led, more top-5s (247) than most Hall of Famers, yet sees himself as the outlier in a shrine forged in the ’90s and 2000s. Back when Hamlin was karting, Earnhardt was intimidating fields with his Intimidator flair, and Petty was charming crowds with sheer volume—legends who expanded NASCAR from regional buzz to national fever.

Hamlin then arrived post-boom. So in a sport already global, his wins are stacking in an era of parity where averaging four victories a year feels like dominance but demands simulator marathons and crew swaps.

That humility sharpens when Hamlin scans the list: Earnhardt‘s 76, a blend of seven titles and sheer fear factor, grew TV deals and fan packs. “You know, I see the names. I’m like, oh, these are the legends of the sport. These are the people that grew the sport; they were just the best of the best,” Hamlin reflected, nodding to rivals like Kyle Busch, whom he dueled weekly.

He didn’t pioneer the garage-less garage or sell out Bristol; his era’s battles, think 2016’s three-win surge to 27 total, came amid social media scrutiny and lawsuits that test even the thickest skin. Still, Hamlin stayed loyal to Joe Gibbs Racing, the team that scouted him from short tracks, turning a quiet kid into a podcast host dissecting strategy. It’s that grind, not glory, that keeps him closing on Earnhardt’s shadow.

Even as the light dims on careers, Hamlin senses his flicker’s steady. “And, you know, I say all the time, like the light switch is going to go off eventually, like we just never know when it’s your last one, and maybe this is the last one; we just never know. But man, I don’t feel it. After that last 10 laps, my confidence is really, really high that it ain’t going away anytime soon,” he shared, a nod to the 2018 season drought that tested his fire before rebounding with seven wins in 2020.

Kevin Harvick, now tied at 60 and retired since 2023, sees the steel beneath: “The thing I love about Denny Hamlin at this point in his career is his willingness to keep learning… If you don’t evolve with the situation—our sport evolves constantly… you have to constantly change what you’re doing.”

Harvick, who chased similar shadows in Stewart-Haas cars, knows the toll; his own 60 came amid ownership stresses, but Hamlin’s edge lies in that same commitment, guiding young crews like Gayle’s through Next Gen tweaks. It’s why Harvick calls him an “evolving driver,” hard to top, especially in Gibbs’ fast fleet; Hamlin’s not chasing crowns for the plaque but for the quiet proof against the inevitable fade.

With Phoenix looming as his title shot sharpens, Hamlin’s gaze shifts to aiding the Gibbs machine through the chaos ahead.

Gayle’s game plan at Talladega

Talladega Superspeedway always stirs the pack into a draft-fueled frenzy, but for the locked-in No. 11 squad, it’s less about risk and more about rhythm. Crew chief Chris Gayle, stepping up after Gabehart’s promotion, spelled it plain: a no-drama push to help JGR allies like Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell for Championship 4 berths.

Hamlin’s Vegas haul left three spots open, leaving Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott all hungry, turning Talladega into a points battlefield where alliances flip fast. Gayle’s call echoes the team’s post-win reset: seven hours of sim-prepping for Vegas paid off; now, it’s ally drafts over solo heroics, a shift from Hamlin’s 2021 finale heartbreak when teammates tangled late.

That straightforward stance underscores JGR’s playoff blueprint, honed since the format’s 2014 debut.“I mean, I think it’s just go in and have a clean weekend. You know, if we can help push our teammates, we do have two Joe Gibbs teammates that still need to get points and get in,” Gayle told Fox Sports.

Gayle’s plan is clear: no wild gambles, since Hamlin’s already Phoenix-bound. Instead, his goal is to free the No. 11 so he can play wingman to his JGR mates.