“If you’re good enough, you’ll get your shot at some point through the day.” That’s a mantra Denny Hamlin seems to have adopted lately, with the Virginia-native making a conscious effort to stay away from headlines for all the wrong reasons. With the season finale at Phoenix on the horizon, the veteran racer has his eyes on the prize and is uncharacteristically attempting to steer clear of controversies with the Bill France Cup on the line. But fans haven’t forgotten his recent incidents with Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace, and even though the field is set for one last showdown, the 44-year-old is adopting a different approach, having learned a rare lesson from the past few wrecks.

Hamlin’s No. 11 has six wins this year, leading the series in wins. But any wrong approach chosen to tackle the finale may remind everyone how the title’s hope may slip away in early wrecks. So let’s look into whether this 44-year veteran will apply those newly learned lessons in the finals.

Denny Hamlin’s clean slate strategy

On the latest episode of the Action Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin opened up about his Martinsville mindset, revealing a calculated restraint amid the playoff pressure. “I let no less than five cars actually pass, like let them pass,” he said. “I wasn’t, I could have just held my line and air blocked them and made them get their stuff hot. And it would just been very detrimental to them.” This came after Hamlin let drivers like Elliott and Joey Logano pass him without a fight, even though various voices from the garage urged him to slam Logano to take past revenge.

But why did Hamlin let them pass? Patience pays in a sport where early aggression can lead to grudges, resulting in retaliatory moves in subsequent races. His issues with various drivers in the past include Gibbs’s bumps at Bristol, Elliott’s incident during the 2023 Coca-Cola 600, and Bubba’s contact in 2023. These incidents taught him that wrecking others just to pass on in the early stage of the race may invite revenge from them when it counts the most.

At Martinsville, where he led early before an engine failure, Hamlin chose a “deposits and withdrawals” mentality, banking on goodwill from other drivers in Phoenix‘s tight pack racing.

That philosophy contrasts directly with Hocevar’s aggressive Martinsville weekend, where the rookie spun three times, including tangles with Daniel Suárez. Hamlin didn’t hold back on the podcast: “Why do you think Carson Hocesvar was in four wrecks? You know what I mean? I’m not asking for anything. I’m just saying that it’s okay to let people go.” Echoing this, he added further about racing at Phoenix, “Once you get inside 30, 50 laps to go and you’re like 20th or worse… do me a favor and please don’t bring out a caution for no particular reason. Like, let’s just get it to the finish, fellas.”

Hocevar, bringing yellow caution in the later part of the final stage while William Byron was leading, flipped the script on alliances. Hamlin’s lesson here is mutual give and take, like drive clean now, and rivals might return the favor in the 312-lap grind in the finale. With Phoenix’s flat 1-mile oval favoring Hamlin’s 939 laps led there, this could keep him preserving his shot at the crown jewel.

The payoff? Hamlin plans to lean on this lesson at Phoenix, where his second-place run earlier this season showed speed. By avoiding “d–k moves,” as he put it, he tried to avoid wrecks that haunted Hocevar throughout the season and plagued his own playoff chances. Yet, if tempers rise, those old controversies could resurface, testing whether Hamlin has evolved or is just waiting for his moment.

As Hamlin eyes that first title, comparisons to another all-time great without one keep surfacing in garage talk.

Two Titans without a title

NASCAR’s garage loves a good “what if,” and putting Denny Hamlin against Mark Martin for the best driver without a title ignites endless debate. Martin with 40 Cup wins in 882 starts and five IROC titles from 1994 to 2005. Hamlin, debuting in 2005, counters with 60 victories in 718 races, three Daytona 500s, three Southern 500s, and a Coke 600, which edged Martin in Cup wins despite fewer starts.

Kyle Larson, no stranger to Hamlin’s greatness, stated, “I mean, I guess it would be between Denny [Hamlin] and Mark Martin, right? I didn’t get to compete with Mark a whole lot, you know? I wanna say Denny just because I see how good he is,” Larson said in a recent interview.

Racing weekly and watching how good he is made Larson pick Hamlin. Hamlin’s six wins this season alone, including his 60th at Las Vegas, show a sustained edge over Martin’s 40. Larson’s ties to Hendrick may add bias to his pick, but his point stands true. Hamlin’s adaptability in the Next Gen car, leading playoffs in laps, mirrors Martin’s stealth but is just magnified. Still, Martin’s IROC dominance, where he beats IndyCar stars, hints at amazing cross-discipline grit that Hamlin hasn’t shown.

Chase Briscoe, Hamlin’s JGR teammate, keeps it real without picking sides. “I mean, it’s gotta be either Mark or Denny. I didn’t get to race against Mark. So, it’s hard for me to really say. Denny is extremely good. So, one of those two. Flip a coin,” Briscoe quipped. Fresh off Martinsville’s win that pushed him into the finals, Briscoe sees Hamlin’s grind daily in the JGR team but respects Martin’s longevity. Martin’s quiet professionalism versus Hamlin’s boldness on and off the field, both in 40-win clubs but with zero rings. As finals loom, and if Hamlin wins the Phoenix, he will exit this debate forever.