Denny Hamlin threatening NASCAR retirement after – Sports News
Denny Hamlin’s newest agonizing NASCAR Cup Series title miss appears to have hit onerous, with the 44-year-old now admitting to questioning his future within the sport.
The Joe Gibbs Racing star led 208 laps at Phoenix Raceway within the Championship Race on Sunday, pulling clear of the oncoming pack with simply 4 laps remaining as he inched ever nearer to the title he had waited 20 years to gather.
However, a late blowout from William Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in second introduced out the dreaded warning flag. Following a gradual journey to pit highway, during which Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota staff opted to change all 4 tires, the veteran’s hopes of a title have been all however dashed as Hendrick’s Kyle Larson handed him by earlier than the restart. He has since defined why he attended Larson’s occasion to have fun after the race.
After the checkered flag fell on Hamlin’s title hopes for yet one more 12 months, with Larson’s third-place end enough to clinch him a second championship, an understandably emotional JGR star admitted to reporters that, “In this moment, I never want to race a car ever again. My fun meter is pegged,” as per The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck.
Fast ahead to Tuesday, and forward of the NASCAR Awards Ceremony in Scottsdale, Arizona, it appears Hamlin’s mindset has not but modified because it pertains to his future, or lack thereof, within the sport.
“I plan to [race in 2026],” he informed reporters. “I have a contract to. But there’s, at this point, there’s just absolutely no way that I would even…I don’t even think about race cars right now. It just…Yeah, I’m going to need some time on this one.”
As far as permitting himself to sit down in these feelings and finally transfer previous them, Hamlin famous that that is one thing ageing has helped him gain a new perspective on. “I think where I feel I’ve gotten better with age is just being able to move on to the next thing,” he stated. “But yeah, I just can’t, like I say in the moment, I can’t imagine having to go through the process I went through to prepare for that race, doing it all over again. I don’t see how there’s any way.”
Hamlin went on to notice that, fortunately from his perspective, “The banquet’s two weeks earlier this week, so the offseason is a little bit longer. But I’ll get over it. Just, it’s going to take a minute.”
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Taking time to breathe and odor the roses gained’t be simple, however fortunately for Hamlin, he has his household to lean upon, noting how he plans to spend more time along with his three kids: Taylor, Molly, and Jameson.
What’s more, Hamlin may also depend on the help not solely of his fiancée, Jordan Fish, but in addition his dad and mom. After the race, as soon as he’d made it back to his trailer, Hamlin was met by his mother, Mary Lou, who, whereas shocked, merely hugged her son and informed him, “It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Meanwhile, so far as his ailing dad Dennis was involved, “[He] thought I was a champion well before this weekend. So, I don’t think his opinion changed much.”
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