Denny Hamlin spoke to Carl Edwards following the former’s crushing loss at Phoenix to gain perspective on his career and what to do next.

In the championship race, the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) star led for 208 laps and was mere moments away from winning his first title before a botched pit spot allowed Kyle Larson to take the lead. Larson would eventually win his second title in overtime, while Hamlin would again be left without a championship.

In the days following the loss, fans pondered what Hamlin would do in the wake of his crushing loss and whether he would abruptly retire like Edwards. However, he leaned on Edwards to help give him a view he needed to determine his next course of action.

“Yeah, it is [keeping it in perspective],” Hamlin shared in an exclusive interview with Racing America On SI. “You know, back to work. You’ve got to just do the best you can to reset. I’ll certainly need some time to do that. But generally speaking, this is the race hangover time.

“You’ve got to just take a little break, get a reset, get recharged, you know, it’s just this year will probably take a little bit longer than years past.” The JGR star also revealed that speaking with Edwards, who cut his career short after losing out on the 2026 Cup Series championship, gave him the clarity he needed to determine his next step.

Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here.

Hamlin added that he could taste a championship, similarly to Edwards, and yet there is no trophy in his home. Still, the 44-year-old understands that he performed the best he could, and losing out has not affected how he thinks of himself and his ability to compete at the top level.

“To borrow from Carl Edwards, I mean, with five laps to go, I knew what it was like to be a champion. I did everything I was supposed to, and so, you know, 40 seconds or 50 seconds at the end deciding whether I win that championship or not has no bearing on my ability or what I’m capable of,” the veteran continued to the outlet.

“I just don’t have the trophy sitting at home, but I know we were the best.” Hamlin’s comments are the clearest indicator that he will return to the Cup Series in 2026 after fans were left to ponder what the JGR star would do in the aftermath of the heartbreak at Phoenix.

Ahead of the NASCAR Awards Ceremony, Hamlin offered a candid view of where his head was at following the loss to Larson in overtime. “I plan to [race in 2026],” he told 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.”

Having spent over two decades in the sport with no heartbreak worse than his loss at Phoenix, Hamlin admitted that he needed to take time away to attempt to reset. “But I’m going to take some time and go on a vacation at some point. I certainly need it very, very badly. Other than that, just spending more time at home,” the 44-year-old said of his offseason plans.

“Through the grind of the season, those who travel weekly in the Cup Series understand that you just don’t get a whole lot of time at home. … I’ll just spend most of my time with them, and being a fan of them versus the other way around, like they are for me for 38 weeks.”