Birth Date: November 18, 1980 Hometown:
Team: No. 11 Toyota Camry / Joe Gibbs Racing
A walk-off win secured a spot in the Championship 4 for Hamlin in 2019,
and he set personal bests in three major categories, propelling him to one of
his most successful seasons on the circuit.
Although he qualied for the NASCAR Playoffs in 2018, Denny Hamlin
knew a lot of things had to happen with his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Camry before he’d be in position to contend for a Championship.
Like winning a single race.
He immediately answered that call, breaking a 47-race winless streak when
he won his second Daytona 500. Not a bad way to start a year.
Hamlin won his second race of the season at Texas, just before he left the
spring Dover race with concerns of carbon monoxide poisoning after a
crash leaked fumes into his cabin.
With a torn labrum for the latter part of the season, Hamlin was still able to
channel his best racing in the Playoffs. Hamlin got his fth victory of the year
at Kansas and ultimately advanced to the Championship 4 for the rst time
in half a decade. A sixth victory came at Phoenix, but his season would end
in a disappointing manner at Homestead.
Hamlin sat on the pole at Homestead, but his car was never right on race
day. He led just two laps, had overheating issues and had to come back
from a lap down just to nish in 10th. Ultimately, that meant his hot streak
ended, and he was not in play for the Championship.
Hamlin’s streak of winning at least one race a year since he became a
full-time driver ended in 2018. It broke a run that spanned 12 years, and
along with Jimmie Johnson’s winless drought, became one of the curious
footnotes of the season.
“We tried as hard as we could,” Hamlin said before the 2019 season. “We
denitely ran better the last half of the season and I’m happy about that.
We’re leading laps, kind of being up there in the stages a little bit better
toward the end. It’s something that’s at least positive for next year.”
Hamlin was eliminated from the Playoffs after the rst round that season,
but he got a glimpse of what could be ahead with six nishes of 14th or
better in the nal seven races. That ultimately foreshadowed the immense
success he would have in 2019.
From the start, Hamlin had a different focus than other drivers in the
Championship. “I’m not worried about the Playoffs,” he said in 2018. “I’m
just worried about running better.”
He did just that.
Hamlin clearly needed to shake things up ahead of 2019, and that certainly
happened both by design and heartbreaking surprise.
Gone is the man who signed him at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2004, team
co-founder J.D. Gibbs. He died January 11, 2019 of complications of a
degenerative neurological disease. The son of team owner and Hall of
Fame football coach Joe Gibbs took a personal interest in Hamlin’s
career, so the driver is even more committed to honoring his friend with
a dramatic turnaround.
72 THE OFFICIAL NASCAR 2020 PREVIEW & PRESS GUIDE
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Gibbs discovered Hamlin when he was racing at local short tracks around
his home at Chestereld, VA. When he told his father he wanted to sign
the young driver, Joe Gibbs reportedly said, “Don’t screw it up.”
Hamlin used Twitter to pay his respects, saying: “His car. His number. His
signature above my door. I will always be grateful for what his family did
for mine and the opportunity he gave me 14 years ago. Now more than
ever #doitforJD.”
Also gone was crew chief Mike Wheeler. After working on Hamlin’s crew
for all 14 of his full-time seasons, including last three as his crew chief,
Wheeler was moved over to JGR’s satellite team, Leavine Family Racing
with driver Matt DiBenedetto.
The highlight of their three-year run was a victory at the 2016 Daytona
500. But as a tandem, they nished sixth, sixth and 11th in the nal
point standings.
Chris Gabehardt, who won nine races in the last three years with JGR’s
No. 19 Toyota in the Xnity Series is the new crew chief, while and Eric
Phillips, who was part of eight wins with JGR’s No. 18 xnity car is the
new car chief.
“I was kind of excited to see how we ran, really, the last ve to six races of
the season,” he said. “That kind of gives me a little bit of motivation and
ready to get going for 2019, obviously with some changes with our team
and really the entire changes when it comes to the whole rules package
and things like that. I’m ready to go. This was one of the few offseasons I
wish was a little bit shorter versus longer. So, I’m ready to get going.”
His 37 career wins without a Cup Series Championship rank third all-time
behind Junior Johnson and Mark Martin.
Maybe 2020 brings that long-awaited trophy — one of the only he’s never
hoisted: A Cup Championship.
2019 FEATURED DRIVERS
DENNY HAMLIN
dennyhamlin.com @DennyHamlin
/dennyhamlin.com