“Denny Hamlin’s a Stud”: Kevin Harvick Confesses JGR Star’s Superiority in All-Time Race

Joe Gibbs Racing star, Denny Hamlin is potentially on the best run of his career by registering three wins in 11 Cup Series starts. With his win at the Monster Mile, Hamlin tied with Lee Petty’s record of 54 wins on the all-time list. And is now placed 12th. Only Kyle Busch, who is still an active racer competing with the JGR driver, is placed higher with his tally of 63 wins.

Given the rate at which the No. 11 JGR car is performing week in, and week out, it is only a matter of time till they clinch more wins. This puts Kevin Harvick’s record of 60 wins at risk. However, even before Hamlin could make a charge for his run, Harvick was quick to highlight that the JGR star would out-score his numbers very soon.

Chris Gabehart’s pairing with Hamlin makes for a winning duo

If you’ve been watching the sport since 2019, it should have been no surprise to see the duo bag yet another victory last weekend at Dover. The chemistry between the two was on display in a challenging race at Bristol, and since then they’ve added two more wins for the No. 11 JGR team this season. So going forward, would they beat the tally of Harvick’s 60 Cup wins this season?

Although Harvick was hesitant about Hamlin reaching the milestone this season, he was confident that Hamlin would go well past his tally of 60 wins. “He’s gonna blow my doors off. I don’t think this year. I think those guys are hitting on all cylinders. I mean, Chris Gabehart is a stud, right? I mean, Denny Hamlin’s a stud. When you have two guys that believe in each other as much as they do right now, it’s hard to beat them,” he said on the Happy Hour podcast.

The 48-year-old even compared Hamlin’s run to his 2020 season, where he won nine races. Stating how this builds the momentum for a championship charge. “I think we won nine or ten races in whatever year that was, and it was a contest. Hey! This is a great start. Let’s dig in here and treat this like a championship week every single week to go out and see how many races you can win. Because you never know when you’re going to have another year like this. Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart are switched on.”

Another example of the chemistry between the two was on display at Dover last weekend. A call by Gabehart for the late restart in the race proved vital in Hamlin keeping his command with the lead over Kyle Larson on the restart.

Gabehart calling the winning shots during the Dover race

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Hamlin and Kyle Larson were involved in a good battle during the Wurth 400 race at Dover. Both the drivers had race-winning cars and it all boiled down to restarts. With 73 laps to go, the JGR driver opted for an inside lane and kept his lead heading into the business end of the event. However, with the field going back to yellow, he had to make a big call once again in deciding his position on the restart.

Luckily, he had the support of his chief, Gabehart. The veteran crew chief advised Hamlin to take the top lane, despite having a strong previous run with the inside lane on the restart. “He was like, yeah but Kyle just restarted up top and he didn’t hold the lead. So likely he is going to learn and whatever he did to lose the lead. He’s going to learn from it and adapt. So I caution you against giving him that same opportunity. So I went to the top and had a great restart(…) That’s why I think our relationship works as good as it does is that we trust each other to make the call.” Hamlin shared this on the Action Detrimental podcast.

Also looking at his track record at the mile-and-a-half racetrack in Kansas, it is fair to see that Hamlin might just add his fourth win of the season this Sunday.