“What’s he supposed to say?” - Denny Hamlin’s championship prediction justified by Bubba Wallace’s spotter 

Denny Hamlin called his shot for Dover, predicting ahead of the race that he would win the race and he did so. A week later, at Kansas, he was asked in a pre-race interview by Clint Bowyer to call his shot to finally win his first Cup championship this season.

Hamlin was questioned if he'd tell people that 2024 is finally the year when he wins the one thing he hasn't won in NASCAR yet. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver replied:

"This is it. This is the year. This is the year it's gonna happen."

Now, there were some fans who made fun of Hamlin's prediction of him winning the Cup title this year. However, Freddie Kraft, the spotter of Bubba Wallace, recently justified Hamlin's comments on Door Bumper Clear.

According to Kraft, this whole thing is "a non-issue" because Hamlin couldn't have said anything other than what he said.

"Clint asked him, 'You called your shot last weekend, are you going to call your shot for the championship?' And what's he supposed to say? 'No'?," Kraft said.

He later asked the others on the podcast if they believe Hamlin cares about winning a championship at this point of his career having won 54 races so far. Brett Griffin was of the opinion that Hamlin does care.

"Yes, I think he cares. I think he cares a lot. Because I think he knows that he's championship caliber," Griffin claimed.

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Denny Hamlin says he would be happy with his NASCAR career even without a Cup title

After his win at Dover, Denny Hamlin equalled the win tally of Lee Petty. The importance of achieving this feat wasn't lost on Hamlin, and he also seemed convinced about was the state of his legacy and career as it is today.

Hamlin claimed that he's aware he's "a championship-caliber driver." Knowing that and with the number of wins he has, he's happy without a Cup title instead of having a title and fewer wins.

"I care about wins and winning every single week because in the end I absolutely would take 60-some wins and no championship over 20 and one. It’s just not even close," he said.

He claimed that worse drivers than him have won a championship before and winning a championship in the Next Gen era is different. Denny Hamlin also challenged anyone to find a driver who agrees that winning a championship today is the same as winning one a decade ago.