By capturing the checkered flag today at Dover Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin joins Lee Petty for 12th all-time on the Cup Series wins list. Hamlin further cements himself as one of the greatest in NASCAR history.
Lee Petty was the winningest driver in NASCAR until his son Richard Petty surpassed him with his 55th career win in 1967 at Darlington. Denny Hamlin has now tied that benchmark of greatness. Lee was the first GOAT in the sport.
The fact that only 11 drivers have bested the 54-win mark in NASCAR history is telling. Wins are difficult to come by. One win is more than most drivers ever get to accomplish in the Cup Series. In 18 years, Hamlin has amassed 54 checkered flags.
Next up on the list is Rusty Wallace with 55 wins. Then, the top-10 gets more difficult. Kevin Harvick sits 10th overall on the wins list with 60 of his own.
Ahead of Harvick are Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, David Pearson, and Richard Petty.
Realistically, Denny Hamlin can tie or even pass Kevin Harvick on the all-time wins list before he hangs up his helmet. However, with Busch still active and younger than him and with 63 wins already, it’s not going to be realistic to go much further than that.
Of course, ahead of Busch is Earnhardt with 76 wins, a mark that may never be bested again. Hamlin is the winningest driver in the Cup Series without a championship.
Denny Hamlin wins third race of the season at Dover
Now that he is up at 54 wins, Denny Hamlin can seriously think about that 60-win mark. He earned his third win of the season today and that ties William Byron for the most this season. Those two are the figureheads of the Hendrick and Gibbs battle going on right now.
The thing is, Denny hasn’t been finishing races well outside of his wins. Besides his three victories on the season, Hamlin doesn’t have a single top-5 to his record. He only has one top-10 outside of those wins.
His other results have been P19, P23, P11, P14, P11, P30, and P37. When you throw those wins in there, it keeps everything afloat. The only issue with that is that the regular season championship won’t be easy to win if this pattern keeps up. Then again, if he wins a race once every three weeks, he doesn’t have to worry about stage points and all of that.
Regardless of how you feel about Denny Hamlin, he is an all-time great. Right now, he looks to be in his prime and locked in with crew chief Chris Gabehart. Hamlin doesn’t have a championship, but he looks like he has 2024 in his sights.
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