JGR make major Denny Hamlin announcement for 2025 season

Joe Gibbs Racing has announced a new primary sponsor for veteran driver Denny Hamlin's #11 Toyota. Ahead of the NASCAR race weekend at Las Vegas, JGR revealed a two-race partnership with ampm, a popular 24-hour convenience store chain in the West Coast region.

On March 12, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that ampm would serve as the primary sponsor for the #11 Toyota, debuting at Sonoma Raceway on July 13. The violet-black-themed paint scheme will return for its second appearance in the playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 12.

Denny Hamlin was excited to welcome ampm aboard the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, marking the brand’s debut as a primary sponsor in NASCAR. Since opening its first store in 1978 in Southern California, the convenience store chain has grown to over 1,000 locations and operates as a subsidiary of BP America.

"We’re looking forward to introducing ampm to the motorsports world. It’s exciting to have a first time partner come on and be able to showcase their business to our fanbase. It’s a great looking paint scheme and I can’t wait to get it out on the track at Sonoma and Las Vegas later this year," Hamlin said in a press release.

Denny Hamlin parted ways with FedEx after the 2024 season, ending a 20-year partnership with the brand that had become synonymous with the #11 car. With the departure of its anchor sponsor, Joe Gibbs Racing was left scrambling to secure replacement sponsors for Hamlin's team.

For the 2025 season, Hamlin's #11 Toyota will feature Sport Clips, National Debt Relief and King's Hawaiian as primary sponsors for four races each. Yahoo! will also serve as a primary sponsor for select races, alongside the recently announced partnership with ampm. Additionally, ampm will be sponsoring Ty Gibbs for a race in 2026.

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NASCAR veteran concerned about Denny Hamlin's diminishing opportunities

After Denny Hamlin missed out on the victory at Phoenix Raceway to teammate Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick said that the 44-year-old is running out of opportunities to win races and a championship, given his age and the natural decline in performance.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion didn't doubt Hamlin's ability to win races but insisted that the clock is winding down for Hamlin to secure his first championship and add more victories to his career tally. He also mentioned that if the #11 Toyota driver had won the race, he would have silenced his doubters.

"I've been in that position that Denny is in. When you know when that number is clicking down and you're going through another race that you had an opportunity to win, it's not always we have next year, right? And Denny's running out of opportunities to not only win a championship but to win races, and he wants to win races, he's capable of winning races...," Harvick said on his podcast. [19:49 onwards]

Harvick could relate to Hamlin’s situation, as he struggled to win races with Stewart-Haas Racing in his latter years. The former #4 Ford driver ended his career with 60 wins in the Cup Series, while Hamlin is sitting at 54 race wins.

The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver returns to action this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 on March 16.