As Motorsport.com reports, Denny Hamlin remains remarkably even-tempered as yet another championship slips away during what is planned as his penultimate campaign at the highest level. For over two decades, the veteran has stood as a top contender without capturing the ultimate prize, holding the unwanted distinction of being the winningest driver in the Cup Series without a title.
That elusive crown now sits firmly in the crosshairs of Kyle Larson. Following a victory at Talladega on Sunday, Larson commands a 92.7 percent chance of taking the championship and could wrap it up a race early at Martinsville by grabbing just three points. The math is brutal for Hamlin, who knows that even if he wins the final two races, he faces just a 60 percent statistical chance of securing the title that has dodged him for 21 seasons.
I think that if Larson closes it out, he deserved it through the last 10 races, and that is what matters in our sport,
The current playoff stretch is a bitter pill after a promising start as the number one seed holding a 25-point advantage before the Southern 500. A mix of self-inflicted mistakes and bad luck has dropped him 73 points behind Larson. That on-track frustration compounds a brutal off-season marked by the loss of his father in a house fire and the high-stakes antitrust trial waged by his 23XI Racing team against NASCAR.
“I’ll be honest, my offseason was so bad last year that this somewhat exceeded my expectations for the year,” Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast. “For the first, I don’t know, five or six races of the season, I was not even engaged in racing, just not feeling it; just lots of other stuff going on. I think the year has definitely been a success; people would die to have a season like I’ve had this year, and we still have a great shot to win more races before the end of this year in these last two weeks.”
Larson has dominated the Chase for the Championship, taking three wins from eight races. Aside from a single blemish at Phoenix where he scored no stage points, fought outside the top-25, and crashed out, the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 machine has operated to near-perfection.
Hamlin tip-capped to that flawless run. “I think that if Larson closes it out, he deserved it through the last 10 races, and that is what matters in our sport,” Hamlin said.
