In the eyes of NASCAR fans who have watched every move made by Denny Hamlin and have overanalyzed each of his words after another Cup Series championship heartbreak that called for playoff format changes, he looked like a man who might be done racing for good.
Two days after losing another chance at the NASCAR Cup Series championship in Phoenix to Kyle Larson, Hamlin appeared at the NASCAR Awards ceremony in Scottsdale wearing something no one expected. The well-sponsored driver rocked a plain gray T-shirt and a Grove XX8 Michael Jordan golf hat.
He had no Toyota logos, no Joe Gibbs Racing gear, and nothing that represented the clear baseball caps he had previously promoted. Hamlin also didn’t have anything involving Progressive insurance, which draped his car for the race.
For fans who’ve followed him for decades, that choice was significant. The 44-year-old spent the previous Sunday pouring his heart into one more shot at the title, only to watch Larson celebrate again, despite Hamlin dominating the race.
When Hamlin faced reporters on Tuesday, he sounded like he still needed more time to weigh out if he would return to driving next season, or if the heartbreaking finish would be his last.
“I raced exactly how the format asked me to,” Hamlin said. “But it still wasn’t right. It didn’t feel like that was the race to lose, but we lost it. Hamlin mentioned that his key takeaways were the excellent preparations by JGR, a very fast car, and all the necessary tools to win.
He noted that in previous seasons, he reached critical championship races but lacked a sufficiently fast car to compete with the top contenders. Hamlin has now finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings three times.