Denny Hamlin never thought he would catch Kyle Busch on NASCAR's wins list

Denny Hamlin never thought he could catch the late Kyle Busch on NASCAR's all-time wins list. But on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway, just 10 days after Busch's tragic death at age 41, Hamlin pulled within a single victory of his longtime teammate and friend with his 62nd NASCAR Cup Series triumph. 

"I thought about it and certainly aspired to eventually get there," Hamlin said Sunday evening of catching Busch, who won 63 Cup races over 762 starts in his legendary career. "I knew my career was going to end before his career was going to end, and we didn’t know what was going to happen, but I had kind of resigned to the fact that I thought we weren’t going to overtake Kyle, and we still might not."

Before Busch's death, the possibility of Hamlin catching him had become very likely. Busch went winless over his final 105 Cup Series starts, while Hamlin, 45, only got better with age. 

Hamlin has won 25 races so far in the 2020s compared to Busch's seven. Given the trajectory of the latter's career, even before his death, it was likely that Hamlin would end up ahead of Busch in the record books and take the No. 9 spot on NASCAR's all-time wins list.

But the events of the last week and a half have certainly made Hamlin's potential accomplishment take on a new sense of meaning.

Will Denny Hamlin match Kyle Busch?

Hamlin could very well match Busch's 63-win total at Michigan on June 7. Hamlin is the defending Michigan winner and hasn't finished outside the top-10 at the two-mile venue since 2019. 

Should Hamlin tie Busch's record next week, he'd go into Pocono on June 14 with the opportunity to break it. 

It just so happens that Hamlin's is the winningest driver in Pocono history, winning a record seven Cup races at 'The Tricky Triangle'. His most recent Pocono triumph came in 2023, while he was the runner-up in the 2024 and 2025 races at the track. 

Ironically, Hamlin earned what would've been an eighth Pocono win in 2022 with Busch finishing runner-up — until both Hamlin and Busch were disqualified in post-race inspection, giving the win to Chase Elliott. 

Even if Hamlin doesn't win either of the next two races, it's hard to believe the No. 11 will be kept out of victory lane for the rest of the 2026 season. Hamlin is arguably the championship favorite at the moment and the only driver capable of mounting a challenge against points leader Tyler Reddick. 

But the biggest storyline around the future Hall of Famer right now is that he may soon match and eclipse the win total of a legend the entire racing world is still grieving. Hamlin winning races No. 63 and No. 64 may be healing moments that NASCAR needs to further honor Busch, who meant so much to the sport and Hamlin personally. 

"It was an honor to be his teammate for 15 years," Hamlin said. "He raised my game. Without him as teammate, there’s no way I win the races I win, especially the ones like today."

Until Hamlin earns that 63rd win, however, Busch's name will still temporarily be above his in the NASCAR record book. 

"We don’t know if this is the last one," Hamlin said. "We don’t know."

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.