Denny Hamlin is once again facing the possibility of missing out on his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. Despite consistently being recognized as a strong contender for the title, something always seems to go wrong when it matters the most. Year after year, Hamlin finds himself in promising positions, yet his decisions and tactics often lead to disappointment, rather than the actions of his competitors.
As the season progresses, it seems like Hamlin could finally secure the championship to cap off an already stellar career. However, when the playoffs roll around, his past mistakes tend to catch up with him. This season, for example, Hamlin decided to employ a questionable strategy during the Atlanta race, hoping to avoid wrecks. Unfortunately, this plan backfired, and he ended up getting caught in a late-race wreck anyway. The bad luck continued into the very next race at Watkins Glen, where he suffered a mishap on the first lap.
A recent exchange between Hamlin and former driver Kyle Petty highlighted the frustrations with Hamlin’s strategy in Atlanta. After starting at the back of the field due to an unapproved adjustment, Hamlin seemed to hold back out of fear of being involved in a wreck. While the decision was rooted in data and analytics, it ultimately didn’t pay off. Now, Hamlin heads into the Bristol race with additional pressure, having dug himself a deeper hole in the playoffs.
Hamlin’s troubles in the current NASCAR Next Gen era seem to be part of a recurring theme. In previous seasons, he was on the receiving end of an aggressive “Hail-melon” move by Ross Chastain, and in 2023, a steering malfunction at Homestead cost him a chance at the title. Now, Kyle Petty is concerned about Hamlin’s ability to maintain the buffer he earned during the regular season. Petty criticized Hamlin’s tendency to overanalyze situations, particularly his strategy at Atlanta. “He overthinks, he overanalyzes… He didn’t need to do what he did at the time, but he thought he did,” Petty remarked during an interview on GoPRNLive.
Petty also pointed out that Hamlin, while undoubtedly a future Hall of Famer, has struggled to learn from his past mistakes, preventing him from securing NASCAR’s most coveted prize. “He’s his own worst enemy in a lot of ways,” Petty explained. “It’s between his ears in a lot of cases. I think we saw that at Atlanta, and I think we’ve seen it other times in his career. This is not something new to Denny Hamlin.”
One theory that has been floated about Hamlin’s struggles is that he has taken on too much outside of driving. In addition to being a top competitor in the NASCAR Cup Series, Hamlin is also a co-owner of the 23XI Racing team and hosts his own podcast. Balancing these various responsibilities while still trying to achieve his goal as a JGR driver may have spread him too thin.
The timing of charter negotiations couldn’t have been worse for Hamlin and his partners at 23XI Racing. Just as the playoffs were getting underway in Atlanta, NASCAR confirmed a new charter agreement with the team. However, 23XI Racing voiced their dissatisfaction with the deal, pushing back against NASCAR and demanding more favorable negotiation terms. While Hamlin insisted that his focus remained on the playoffs and that the charter talks wouldn’t affect his performance, it’s hard to ignore the possibility that these off-track issues have impacted his results.
Veteran driver Kevin Harvick didn’t hold back in expressing his thoughts on Hamlin’s recent struggles, particularly the impact of the charter drama. Speaking on the Happy Hour podcast, Harvick noted, “When you look back at the driver strategy to go out at Atlanta and just try to race for 20 points, and then all the drama that’s happened, especially with the charters, it’s derailed the 11 car.”
With Hamlin’s playoff performance on a downward trajectory, his only option to turn things around is to get back on track at the upcoming Bristol race. A win there could help him reset and regain momentum heading into the next playoff round. The pressure is mounting, and if Hamlin hopes to finally secure the championship that has eluded him for so long, he’ll need to approach the remaining races with a fresh mindset and a renewed focus on what it takes to win.
Kyle Petty Blasts Denny Hamlin: Calls Him His ‘Own Worst Enemy’ in Bold Playoff Warning.
