Denny Hamlin returns to site of NASCAR title – Sports News
When Denny Hamlin begins his race on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway within the Straight Talk Wireless 500 NASCAR Cup Series race, he might be doing so on the identical place he suffered championship heartbreak final 12 months.
While Hamlin’s 23XI Racing, which he co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan, has began the 2026 season on fire thanks to three straight wins from Tyler Reddick, the previous got here agonizingly close to profitable his maiden NASCAR championship title at Phoenix Raceway final season.
Having led for 208 laps of NASCAR’s Championship Race, a warning with simply three laps to go led to Kyle Larson coming away from Phoenix the victor, a outcome that left Hamlin devastated.
It was well-known that, Hamlin additionally needed to accomplish that for his sick father, Dennis. The latter was critically ailing, with Hamlin wanting to win the Championship in his honor. However, then slightly below two months after Hamlin’s Phoenix heartbreak, his dad handed away following an unintended home fire in North Carolina.
Following the 2025 Championship Race, the 45-year-old admitted he felt numb. “It’s hard, I’m trying. I’m trying my best.”
“I really don’t have much for emotion right now,” added Hamlin later on. “Just numb about it because just in shock.”
“It’s just something [that] will be one of those life lessons years down the road,” he continued.
“We were 40 seconds from a championship. It’s just unfortunate. The only difference before is the cautions came maybe a little sooner than that, but I don’t know. It’s just … gosh.
“You work so arduous. It’s simply this sport can drive you completely loopy as a result of it’s simply that generally velocity, expertise, all that stuff simply doesn’t matter.”
Hamlin also added that while he did not need a championship to make him whole, he was devastated to have come up short for his family, friends, and supporters.
“While the championship … It wouldn’t have modified something I felt really about myself.
“I just wanted it so bad for everyone else, all of my supporters, all my friends and family, and whatnot. They want it so bad. Just not going to happen.”
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