“It’s got to happen”: Kevin Harvick backs Denny Hamlin to achieve the most elusive goal of his NASCAR career 

Denny Hamlin currently ties William Byron for the second-highest number of wins [3] this regular season. Despite his consistent performance year after year, Hamlin holds the distinction of having the most wins in the NASCAR Cup Series without securing a championship title. However, Kevin Harvick is optimistic about Hamlin's prospects, confident that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will change the statistic soon.

Hamlin started his NASCAR career in 2004 and made his Cup race debut in 2005. Notably, he is the only driver to have qualified for the playoffs every season since the current format's inception in 2014. Additionally, since becoming a full-time driver in 2006, he only missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup once, in 2013.

Even in 2018, despite not securing a single win during the regular season, Denny Hamlin qualified for the playoffs through consistent performance, amassing seven top-five and 14 top-ten finishes. However, his playoff run was short-lived as he was eliminated in the Round of 16 following finishes outside the top ten at Las Vegas, Richmond, and the Charlotte Roval.

Despite such consistent results over the years, the NASCAR Cup championship has continued to elude Hamlin, even after two decades in the sport. Recently, Kevin Harvick weighed in on this topic during his podcast, "Harvick's Happy Hour", as he discussed his early picks for the championship, stating:

"I'm sticking to my guns, Denny Hamlin. I think when Denny looks at the way that they've run this year, the way that they ran at Phoenix he's gotta know running out of shots. And I think when you see that regular season trophy sitting in the shop at 23XI.

"I just gotta believe that there's some sort of motivation there. And I think when he and Gabehart look at all the things that they have accomplished and... been together and can do. I think that that experience of being able to have been there before- I just think that eventually it's got to happen," he added.

Denny Hamlin will enter the first race of the playoffs at Atlanta Motor Speedway with 15 playoff points.

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Michael Jordan teases Denny Hamlin during recent celebration

Denny Hamlin, who has yet to secure a NASCAR Cup Championship or even a regular-season championship, was present last Sunday to see his 23XI Racing driver, Tyler Reddick, win the title. In the midst of the festivities, an amused Michael Jordan seized the opportunity to lightly rib the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

Hamlin shared the interaction on his Instagram with the caption:

“MJ’s got jokes.”

During the celebration with the regular season championship trophy, Michael Jordan turned to Hamlin and quipped:

“You got one of these, don’t you?”

Denny Hamlin wrapped up the regular season of the 2024 Cup series in sixth place with 2015 points, accumulating nine top-5 finishes, and twelve top-10 finishes, by leading a total of 917 laps.