"I don't like to put on rose-colored glasses" - Denny Hamlin responds to driver polls on 2024 NASCAR championship chances

Denny Hamlin is cautiously optimistic about his chances of claiming his first Cup Series championship. He recently responded to anonymous polls in which other drivers expressed their opinions on whether he could win the title.

Fox Sports conducted a poll in which 12 out of 16 NASCAR drivers predicted that Hamlin would win a championship before retiring. However, in a separate poll conducted by The Athletic, only one of 16 drivers believed that Hamlin would secure the championship title in the current year.

However, Hamlin, who entered the playoffs as the sixth seed, feels good about his chances. During NASCAR playoffs media day on Wednesday, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said that he has a genuine chance of winning the championship this year.

"I’m a realist like Coy was. I don’t like to wear rose-colored glasses like my friend Greg Farnelli. I’m honest, and I know when I have a real shot. This year is definitely one of those times," Hamlin said.

Hamlin has experienced a mixed bag of results throughout the season. The 43-year-old won three races at Bristol, Richmond, and Dover and had five straight top-5 finishes during the first half. However, crashes and engine issues hindered his performance in the latter part of the season, resulting in only two top-5 and two top-10 finishes in the last 11 races.

---

What NASCAR drivers had to say about Denny Hamlin's chances of winning the championship

Drivers had different opinions on Denny Hamlin's chances of winning the championship. Some drivers were confident in his abilities, while others expressed doubts due to his past struggles.

One even compared his situation to Mark Martin, who ran over 880 races in the Cup Series over the course of 31 years and holds a record for the second most wins (49) in the Xfinity Series. However, he was never able to win the Cup Series championship.

Here are the comments some drivers left on the anonymous poll by Fox Sports.

"I don’t really know if he will or not. He’s plenty of good enough too. It just seems like something has always happened. It’s surprising he hasn’t already. Maybe he won’t because it’s also surprising Mark Martin never did,” said one driver.

"He's obviously a really good racecar driver. A very smart racer. Probably understands a lot of the sport as good or better than anyone else because he gets to see both sides of it. He's put himself in that position many times. You'd think eventually the odds would work in his favor," wrote another driver.

"If you asked 10 years ago, a resounding yes,” another said.

It remains to be seen if Hamlin can finally break through and end his long quest for a championship title.