“It feels like an eternity”: Denny Hamlin lets his emotions flow on No. 11 team’s ‘29 race’ winless run

Denny Hamlin touched upon the painfully long winless run in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won his last race at Dover last year, and since then it has been just a dry spell for him and the #11 team.

Speaking to renowned NASCAR journalist Kelly Crandall, Hamlin shared his feelings and explained how the winless run felt. That too, at the time when his teammate, Christopher Bell, claimed three victories this season at Atlanta, Austin, and Phoenix.

"It does, (if it hurts), just like it's been a really long time," Hamlin told Crandall on X. "It sucks. You know we lost some speed at the end of last year, and now we certainly came back to this racetrack where we'll start to gauge where we're at. As far as this season's concerned, it feels like an eternity."

Denny Hamlin triumphed at the Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway in April last year when he held off Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports to the finish line. This was his 54th Cup Series win, which put him alongside Lee Petty (father of the most successful NASCAR Cup Series driver, Richard Petty), for 12th on the all-time Cup Series wins list.

From then on, Hamlin has been on a 29-race winless run and almost 11 months without a victory. The #11 JGR driver never won a championship in his two decades of journey in the Cup Series, and going through a rough patch amid this must be terrible.

The driver from Tampa, Florida, has 686 races under his belt in over 20 years as of the 2025 Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway. He picked up 54 wins, 43 pole positions, and 358 Top 10s in the Cup Series.

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How has Denny Hamlin's 2025 season been so far?

Denny Hamlin has had a topsy-turvy start to his 2025 Cup Series season, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has gone through a rollercoaster of emotions and performance graphs in the first four races.

The #11 star finished the season-opener Daytona race in 24th place, followed by a sixth-place finish at Atlanta. At Austin, he fell down the order again at COTA, Texas, with a 21st-place finish.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) leads driver Christopher Bell (20) and driver Kyle Larson (5) during the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway - Source: Imagn

In last week's race at Phoenix Raceway, Hamlin finished as runner-up to teammate Christopher Bell and was inches away from the finish line. He will participate in the upcoming Pennzoil 400 by Jiffy Lube at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Sunday.

Currently, Hamlin is in seventh place in the championship with 110 points to his name. He has a Top 5 and two Top 10s under his belt, and he led nine laps. His average start position in the last four races was 16.2, and his average finish position was 13.25.