Denny Hamlin has been in the NASCAR Cup scene for 21 years. During that time, he has always been a championship contender, but never managed to go all the way. Now there are probably 100s of NASCAR drivers who have competed in the Cup Series and never won a title. However, very few have managed to achieve the level of success that Hamlin has enjoyed, but not winning the title. In light of this, Dale Earnhardt Jr has turned into a bit of a cheerleader for the Joe Gibbs Racing star.

To be honest, he can sympathise with Hamlin, because Dale Jr himself has never won a Cup title. As such, he is hoping that the #11 driver can finally get the monkey off his back. Let’s be honest, Hamlin is not a bad driver, because no bad driver has 59 Cup wins under his belt, and counting. As a matter of fact, he is just 4 behind former teammate Kyle Busch, and Hamlin is also a 2025 Playoff contender again.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is batting for Denny Hamlin to finally win

Dale Jr said on the Dale Jr Download podcast, “So Denny Hamlin, there’s something that we say every year, it feels like. It’s true, the statement hasn’t been incorrect. Every year we say, ‘Man, this is his best shot.’ What Denny’s been able to do over the last handful of seasons to be a favorite, one of the favorites, one of the contenders. Year after year after year, and literally every single year it seems like he’s even better. You got to give him a ton of credit. Right now, I think we can say maybe for the first time he is the best car on the field at this point. I mean, when we go to the race track and we’ve got to do this manufacturer parlay. We got to think about who’s going to be good, Denny’s always one of the Top 3 drivers. He’s always the top Toyota and it’s just impressive.”

According to Dale Earnhardt Jr, Hamlin is so good that every year feels like it could be the one. Dale Jr just cannot help but be impressed at the 44-year-old’s consistency. He was of the opinion that 2025 could finally be Hamlin’s year because he is looking like the best driver. In fact, every year Denny Hamlin is considered as a Top 3 NASCAR Cup driver. However, Dale Jr was concerned about the #11 driver sustaining his form. After all, this is the Playoffs, and Denny Hamlin has to be on his toes until Phoenix.

That being said, Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing are always improving. Of course, the veteran driver has been downplaying his abilities, possibly to not give himself false hope. However, there is no denying that he works hard at his race craft. Even at the age of 44, his work ethic and preparation is incredible, especially since he is competing against drivers several years his junior. Furthermore, Hamlin has valuable experience of racing a variety of generations of race cars.

Dale Earnhardt Jr acknowledged that at some point, older drivers slow down. However, Denny Hamlin has yet to reach that cliff, and he is already 44 years old. Frankly, the JGR driver is like a fine wine, getting better with age. Dale Jr also compared him to the likes of Harry Gant and Bobby Allison. What’s also impressive is that Hamlin is adapting well to a car that has even made some of the best drivers struggle.

The JGR star has had to adapt a lot to the Next Gen car

Of course, when the Gen 7 car made its debut, it took a while for everyone to get used to it. Denny Hamlin was no different, and he faced a number of different challenges at the same time. Among them, he’s changed crew chiefs, race cars, and different generations of race cars. Anything that was thrown at him, he was able to overcome and still be stronger for it.

Dale Jr also observed that he is one of the longest-tenured Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. Since its debut in 1992, Joe Gibbs Racing witnessed several drivers come and leave the organisation. Think of someone like Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, or Bobby Labonte, all of whom have won a championship with JGR. Eventually they all moved on, but Denny Hamlin was the picture of loyalty.

Owing to how good he has been, Dale Earnhardt Jr believes in his heart, that Denny Hamlin deserves to win a championship. He deserves to know what that feels like. All the wins, trophies in the house, all the things he has in his memory of his career. He deserves to have a trophy. Otherwise, he could be in danger of being the modern day Mark Martin, not that that is a bad thing, but any driver would love to win a championship.