Denny Hamlin makes NASCAR History with unique achievement

Denny Hamlin won his third point-paying race of the current season at Dover International Speedway in April. Just two weeks later, he backed his victory with a unique achievement at Darlington Raceway.

Throwback to this year's Goodyear 400; Hamlin made history as the only NASCAR driver to lead laps in his 17th consecutive race. From the opening race of the Round of 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last year to the 2024 Goodyear 400, Hamlin's number 11 Toyota Camry XSE was seen running consistently up front.

Denny Hamlin has over 600 career starts under his belt. The 17-race streak begins from his 647th start and ends in his 663rd. On that note, Trey Ryan, a popular NASCAR analyst and stat-person, posted on X:

"Denny Hamlin led 17 consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races (Las Vegas last Fall - Darlington this Spring). Denny became the only driver in NASCAR HISTORY to lead 17 (or more) consecutive races after making 600 career starts. Denny did it in starts 647-663."

To this, Denny Hamlin replied:

"Ran out of time for 18."

The All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway was the one race that ended Hamlin's streak. Joey Logano led all but one in the 200-lap exhibition race, held him off by 0.636 seconds, and took home the cash prize of $1 million. The only other lap was led by RFK Racing owner and driver Brad Keselowski.

---

Denny Hamlin clears up his views on NASCAR's new charter mandate

With Stewart-Haas Racing closing its shutter in 2025, four charters are up for sale on NASCAR's charter market. Among others, Denny Hamlin's team is a potential buyer. However, NASCAR has recently come up with a new mandate in its upcoming charter agreement, which doesn't resonate well with the 23XI owner.

According to NASCAR, no Cup team will be allowed to hold more than three charters. However, the teams that currently hold four charters, i.e., Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, will retain all four of them. Hamlin says this will ruin the parity between the teams.

In a recent episode of Actions Detrimental, the seven-time Pocono winner explained, as reported by On3:

"I think this is part of a grander plan from Jim France and what he wants. The problem is you’ve already got four (car) teams. So, if you limit to three in the future, it will always be an advantage to them (having) four."

"What’s going to happen then is if you cap it at three and say, ‘That’s all you can do. 23XI you can only be three for the rest of your lives.’ I’m going to say ‘Okay, how am I going to beat Gibbs and Hendrick then?'" he added.

With 492 points to his name, Hamlin stands at the pinnacle of the leaderboard and five points ahead of his JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. His next race is at the World Wide Technology Raceway on June 3.