Denny Hamlin has been grinding it out for a good while. Last year, everyone was betting it was his turn to take the championship, but then the plot twisted during the final stretch of the playoffs. This year, though, he’s come out swinging, nabbing wins at the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum and Bristol Motor Speedway. These victories have catapulted him into fifth place in the driver standings. Right now, he’s sitting at 173 points, just a stone’s throw away—38 points to be exact—from the front-runner, Martin Truex Jr, who has 211 points. So that has mean the JGR driver actually has a chance to clinch that elusive championship this year? Well, Kevin Harvick certainly thinks so.

Kevin Harvick thinks Denny Hamlin should’ve won at Phoenix too

Last season, Hamlin hit a rough patch during the playoffs with three finishes at 25th or lower, including a tough break during the Round of 8. A busted power steering at Homestead knocked him from third to the wall, wrecking his race. This dropped him 17 points below the cutline before heading to the crucial Martinsville race. Ryan Blaney and William Byron managed to snag spots in the Championship 4, leaving Hamlin out in the cold.

But this season’s telling a different story. Out of five races, Hamlin’s already bagged a win and placed in the top 10 twice. The guy’s on a roll, and while he’s steering the ship, his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, is making sure the winds are in their favor. And surely Kevin Harvick’s noticing that. The retired SHR driver even went as far as to say that 2024 will finally be Denny Hamlin’s year.

“I can tell you it’s the year right now. They should have won last week, too. They had a shot to win last week and Denny spun out, and that was one of my favorite speeches that I’ve heard from Chris Gabehart, just saying, ‘Hey stuff happens and we need to regroup, get everything we can out of the day’, and here they are the very next week in Victory Lane in some very unique circumstances.”

The retired veteran further appreciated the tight bond that Denny Hamlin and his crew chief share. “And anything that Chris says to Denny. it’s just like ‘Yes sir, yep I’m going to do it. He’s telling me, I believe it’. And if he’s telling me to drive off the cliff, I’m going to go drive off the cliff and that’s what you want in that driver crew chief combination,” the retired veteran said. 

But while fans are super pumped about him gunning for the championship, there’s also this nagging worry that he might retire after that. 

Could the JGR star driver hang up his racing gloves after he clinches the championship?

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Denny Hamlin’s racked up more wins than any other driver without snagging a Cup Series championship, and he’s been pretty vocal about that empty spot in his trophy case. At 43, time’s not exactly on his side, though he did ink a new deal with Joe Gibbs Racing not too long ago. But after his performance at Bristol, it’s clear he’s still at the top of his game.

This could really be Hamlin’s year just like they say. The latest tweaks to the cars mean drivers have to be more cunning with how they race, particularly when it comes to tire preservation, and that’s right up Hamlin’s alley. With the Cup Series rolling into its first road course of the season at Circuit of The Americas, we’ll see what he’s got.

Read More: Denny Hamlin Hellbent on NASCAR Being Left With No Other Option Than His Unwelcomed Solution

And with Martin Truex Jr, who’s the same age and has been mulling over retirement after winning it all in 2017, it makes everyone wonder if Hamlin might consider calling it a career on a high note if he takes the championship this year.

What’s your take? Could a championship win push Denny Hamlin toward retirement?