Denny Hamlin has confirmed his intention is to return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026. However, he would have tried to walk away if he had won his first championship.
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The Joe Gibbs Racing driver provided the surprising revelation during this week's episode of "Actions Detrimental," his first since a late caution disrupted what had been a championship performance.
"Listen, I would have begged Joe (Gibbs) to let me quit had I won that race," Hamlin said. "I would have. I would have because it just would have been the perfect way for me to go out. But they are not ready for that yet.
"They have to have time to work on my succession plan, and we obviously, we set a date out now to at least come to when that is. We know what's the life line left. But I would have certainly really, really asked him a big favor to let me end on that one."
Every competitor has the goal of winning and then choosing to walk away from the sport they love. Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway did this after winning back-to-back Super Bowls. He closed out his Hall of Fame career with two of the biggest performances and then retired.
NASCAR drivers have fallen short of this goal numerous times. So many have set out to win a championship and then walk away. Jeff Gordon came close as he won at Martinsville in 2015 and made the Championship 4, but he ended the season third in the standings.
Other drivers have not been as fortunate. Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all went winless in their final seasons. Johnson and Earnhardt both missed the playoffs. Truex ended his final season as a Round of 16 elimination.
Hamlin nearly pulled off this incredibly difficult feat. He dominated the championship race at Phoenix while leading 208 laps. He had a three-second lead with fewer than five laps remaining when William Byron blew a tire and hit the wall, bringing out the caution and sending the race to overtime.
A four-tire stop dropped Hamlin behind Kyle Larson in the running order. Larson used two tires to get ahead, which put him in control of the championship battle. He went on to win his second title despite failing to lead a single lap at Phoenix.
Hamlin spoke about this heartbreak during the NASCAR Awards and said that he would need some time when asked about his future plans. This created concerns about him possibly just choosing to walk away from the sport as Carl Edwards did after the 2016 season.
This will not be the case. Hamlin will return to the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to continue pursuing race wins and his first championship. He will do so as NASCAR changes its championship format.
"Does it make it more appealing? Yes," Hamlin said about the changes. "For people like myself, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, I think we are all for bigger sample size."
