Denny Hamlin charged through the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series like a man on a mission. A mission to win his first title. His 2025 season took off from an emotional win at Martinsville, where he waved that defiant “11 against the world” flag. From there to dominating 208 laps in the Phoenix finale, where he fell short of that elusive title by just forty seconds. And that heartbreak of the final loss still lingers.

As the sport enters its off-season, Hamlin’s still trying to cope with that loss, taking some time to recharge himself. And in the process, he’s distancing himself from the track’s relentless grind. Fans and pundits still buzz about the what-ifs from Phoenix, where a strategy call from his crew chief under pressure defined the outcome. Hamlin’s distance from the sport and his team ignited the whispers of strain in key relationships. What Hamlin shared next pulls back the curtain on that inner world.

Denny Hamlin’s off-season vow

On the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin finally addressed the elephant in the room. “No, we haven’t,” Hamlin said plainly when he asked if he had talked to his crew chief, Chris Gayle, since the Phoenix heartbreak.

“When the season’s over, I’ve given it all I’ve got. Leave me alone now.” It’s his way of drawing a hard line after pouring everything into a season that saw him rack up 14 top-fives and over 1,000 laps led, only to watch a caution caused by William Byron‘s tire failure trigger overtime chaos with three laps left.

That caution forced a pivotal pit stop, where Gayle called for four fresh tires, which was sought to give Hamlin extra grip to charge in those final laps, but it backfired as rivals like Kyle Larson surged with a two-tire change in that pivotal pit stop. And because of the time taken in a four-tire change, Hamlin restarted 10th, which was five spots behind Larson. And when the checkered flag fell, Hamlin finished sixth, three spots behind Larson.

Still, he praised the effort of his chief, stating, “Chris did a great job, and the whole team did in preparing the car… They gave me everything that I needed and then some.” This disconnect isn’t new for Hamlin, who has seen these types of heartbreaks in his career, but this time it hits differently after such a near miss.

Gayle, stepping into the crew chief role for 2025 after Chris Gabehart’s promotion, stood by the decision as the talk around that pit stop grew. “I think four tires was the right call; it just didn’t get clear on the bottom, and I thought for a split second we were. The 5 got the outside, and we were just boxed in with chaos,” he explained, reflecting on how Larson‘s two-tire stop let him start fifth and build momentum, and Hamlin, who started tenth, got stuck in the pack, and from there, he couldn’t pass Larson.

Gayle’s words echo the prep that defined Hamlin’s dominant run this season, which started with the pole at Phoenix, with flawless restarts honed all year, but this Phoenix run underscores the fine line between genius and gut-punch in NASCAR‘s playoff pressure. For Hamlin, it’s a reminder that even perfect execution can sometimes not be enough to win a race.

That emotional weight didn’t fade; it pushed Hamlin to darker corners of doubt, where the fire to keep fighting nearly flickered out.

Hamlin’s close call with walking away

The Phoenix loss hit Hamlin like a wreck, which also amplified years of close calls and five playoff heartbreaks in the modern era alone. At 44, with a family leaning on his drive and a father battling health issues who was very happy after that Las Vegas win, as that win locked Denny Hamlin as a title contender. But losing after coming so close only magnified that heartbreak.

Hamlin opened up about staring down retirement, saying, “I would have begged Joe to let me quit, had I won that race. It would have just been the perfect way for me to go out.” If Hamlin had won the championship title, he could have retired on a high note after his 20-year Joe Gibbs tenure.

Instead, the defeat fueled a raw exhaustion that made racing feel like a burden now. “It doesn’t make me want to race right now in this moment anymore,” Hamlin admitted, his voice carrying the weight of all those twenty years in the sport where he won 60 races, which ties him to Kevin Harvick in the all-time 10th position. But all this achievement without a title stings even more.

Yet, with two years left on his deal with owner Joe Gibbs, he’s choosing to push on for the team that built a “championship car” all season. This glimpse into his resolve shows why Hamlin remains NASCAR’s most resilient warrior.