The wild stories started in 2006. That marked the Cup Series rookie season for Denny Hamlin, a newcomer in Joe Gibbs Racing. He won the exhibition ‘Bud Shootout’ race at Daytona International Speedway and went on to clinch trophies at both events of Pocono Raceway. Hamlin was in legitimate points contention for a championship – but ended up in 3rd place. That put Hamlin in the headlines – even though he was not the winner.

A similar series of events took place recently, although it culminated in glory. Denny Hamlin’s on-track and off-track pursuits have been in a state of turmoil for the entire 2025 season. To top them off with a victory in Las Vegas felt amazing – although Hamlin wants less of the spotlight now.

Denny Hamlin seeks a peaceful retreat

A few weeks ago, the No. 11 Toyota wrangled with the No. 54 Toyota. Both belonged to Joe Gibbs Racing, yet Denny Hamlin found Ty Gibbs, his non-playoff teammate, to be getting in his way. That conflict flooded the stories, with people dissecting both sides. Then Hamlin conflicted with another Toyota in Kansas, this time a car that he owns – the No. 23 driven by Bubba Wallace. This made for extra spice and controversy, doubling the pressure that Hamlin was already facing from the racetrack and the NASCAR lawsuit. “I think it’s week in, week out,” Hamlin said.

The endless spotlight on his race moves stole a bit of the sparkle from Chase Elliott’s Kansas win. Denny Hamlin talked about that on ‘The (Thurs)Day After’ podcast of NASCAR. “I think it was like three or four straight weeks, like I was part of the main story even when I wasn’t winning. We finished 12th, and yet we’re talking about my incident with Ty. I finished second; Chase Elliott won Kansas by the way, nobody talks about that…How did he finish second? Well, he had to get into the car he owned.”

Then Denny Hamlin attempted to stay under the radar at the Charlotte Roval – but in vain. The JGR veteran got in the way of Ross Chastain and Joey Logano’s fight for the last Round of 8 playoff berth. And inadvertently, he disadvantaged Chastain, who tried to make up for it by getting aggressive. Hamlin reflected, “And then I was just minding my own business in 18th last week on the last lap, and Ross gets in the back of us. So I’m on quite the streak as far as that’s concerned.”

Now, however, Denny Hamlin is seeking a peaceful retreat for the next two weeks. Having locked himself into the Championship 4 for the first time since 2021, Hamlin can now relax and prepare for his final test at Phoenix. He said, “But hopefully we can just remain under the radar for the next two weeks…and not be part of the picture and let things just play out naturally. Let’s go get these guys in Phoenix.”

However, it is not going to be a cakewalk for Denny Hamlin, as one of his rivals is already getting ready.

The frenemies are gearing up

The history of wash-ups between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson is hardly small. From running Larson up the wall in a 2023 Pocono race to the two drivers doorslamming each other in 2024, the number of incidents has been plenty. In last weekend’s race at Las Vegas, however, the encounter was cleaner. Larson thought that Chase Briscoe would be his only rival in the final part of the race. However, Denny Hamlin went from 10th to first place in the final 10 laps of the South Point 400. Larson hailed his frenemy: “The 11 is the only one guaranteed in right now. So he would be the favorite.”

Yet Denny Hamlin’s Championship 4 spot just ramped up the pressure on him. Because now, Kyle Larson, who is 35 points above the cutline, is carving his goals. Larson is hoping to beat the Toyotas on short tracks. “Hopefully, we can get in there,” he said. “Because I do feel like, that’s an area where we have closed the gap a lot to them and maybe surpassed JGR on our flat track program. Iowa went well. New Hampshire was good. Richmond was better than we typically are. So, yeah, I think we’re getting better.”

Clearly, Denny Hamlin’s battle is yet to be over. Although the spotlight may hover away from him a little, the Phoenix weekend will be tough for him. We cannot wait to see Hamlin go up against his rivals!