Denny Hamlin chasing history, more wins after 700th career NASCAR start

By winning a race in his 701st career NASCAR start, Denny Hamlin has joined an exclusive club of only 10 drivers who can say the same. Once you get to 700+ starts, which equates to around 20+ years in the sport, winning gets difficult. Hamlin, at 44, has three wins this season after taking the checkered flag at Michigan.

When you think of drivers who were able to keep winning and stay competitive late in their careers, a few pop up. Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, and Ricky Rudd all picked up multiple wins after their 700th starts. Richard Petty, in a category of his own, had 22 wins post-700.

At 44 years old and with 701 starts and counting, Denny Hamlin wants to keep winning. He has three wins this season, the same total he has had in the last two years. But you never know when that last win will come for a driver his age. Hamlin reflected on his accomplishment in the post-race press conference on Sunday.

“I mean, it feels good. I’m so hung up on trying to get to a win total that I told you before I get really frustrated on the days that I feel like I had the car, I just didn’t have the execution or I made a mistake.

“It’s gratifying. I look at the names that have won multiple. I think Jeff Gordon has the most, right? It’s like these guys, I can’t hold their helmet back. They’re better than I am. I know they’re better than I am because I’ve raced against them.

“It just feels good because I’m going to hate it when I’m not at the level I’m at now. I certainly will retire very, very quickly after that. I’m not going to hang around and do it just to do it. This is how I want to spend my last season, is like still winning, you know? I’m going to keep going.”

Denny Hamlin wants to beat the modern driver record

If we take The King out of the equation, the modern record for most wins after making 700 starts is Kevin Harvick with 7. Denny Hamlin wants to beat all of the records he can in his career. He has been open about his desire to win 60+ races, and at 57 right now, he could be on track to do just that.

Hamlin talked about making history as he reflected on his win on Sunday. He has his eyes on every accolade he can realistically reach.

“I would love to beat that record,” Hamlin said. “If I do, then I’m going to put myself in the mid-60s in wins. I got to count on possibly Logano, more than likely Larson overtaking us in wins. You got to budget for at least a couple of these guys that started so much younger than I did to beat us on the win total.

“I forever want to be in the top 10. It’s not going to be forever. There’s going to be someone that comes down the line that’s going to be the best ever. They’re going to win a lot. At least while I’m alive, I want to be in the top 10 for the most wins.

“I just love knocking ’em off one by one. Certainly, getting three already this year is putting me on pace to where I think I need to be.”

To crack the top-10 list in wins, Denny Hamlin has to pass up Kevin Harvick with at least 61 wins. Harvick retired with 60. Then there is Kyle Busch, a little younger than Hamlin, but winless since 2023, Busch has 63 wins in his career, for 9th. After that, Dale Earnhardt is next up at 76 career wins, likely out of reach for Hamlin.

Hamlin is only 44. Drivers like Mark Martin, Morgan Shepherd, Bobby Allison, and Harry Gant all won when they were 50+ years old. Since turning 40, Hamlin has won 13 times. Many drivers have found their greatest success after turning 40, and perhaps, Denny is on that same track, too.