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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – OCTOBER 26: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota, looks on from the garage area after car trouble during the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 26, 2025 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Denny Hamlin is once again on the verge of clinching his first NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series Championship. While the focus should be how to get finally get the job done to claim the elusive crown for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver, he has some other issues in his mental wheelhouse.<\/p>\n First, the on-going antitrust legal battle with the sanctioning body. As co-owner of 23XI Racing, the in and out of courtroom discussions have taken up his time. Secondly, the JGR team has suffered some mechanical woes of late<\/a>, with the most recent a blown engine at Martinsville Speedway last week.<\/p>\n With that said, Hamlin needs to carefully place his time and focus leading up to this Sunday\u2019s championship finale at Phoenix Raceway.<\/p>\n Court Time Takes a Toll<\/p>\n The week leading up to Martinsville was a busy one for the legal case between NASCAR, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. Being a co-owner for 23XI meant Hamlin needed to be present during courtroom proceedings held in Charlotte for three consecutive days.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m tired, but I didn\u2019t stop working,\u201d Hamlin said before the Martinsville race. \u201cI was just at the shop until nine or 10 o\u2019clock at night. I go from court to the shop, we don\u2019t stop being prepared.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was okay the first day, not great the second day and I don\u2019t know. It didn\u2019t end in any resolution unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust days in the week, that\u2019s it. Both sides probably feel strong about their case. You sat in the court and heard the arguments. I\u2019ll let you come up with your own opinion, but I think one of us is on a suicide mission.\u201d<\/p>\n When arbitration talks failed to come reach any type of settlement, the court ruled the case would go to trial in December.<\/a> In additions, both sides agreed to what could and could not be brought up during the trial<\/p>\n Engine Woes for JGR<\/p>\n During the Martinsville race, both Championship Four teams from JGR experienced race-ending power plant problems.<\/p>\n First, it was Chase Briscoe ending the day early when his No. 19 Toyota started puking smoke out of the side pipes on lap 295. That left him with a last place finish of 37th. On lap 334, the same happened to Hamlin ending his day in 35th place. Adding to the worrisome woe was 23XI driver Riley Herbst losing his Toyota engine on lap 323 to finish between Hamlin and Briscoe<\/p>\n Not really confidence building finishes for two drivers on the cusp of claiming their first championship.<\/p>\n Coach Joe Said Good to Go<\/p>\n During a Media Availability on Monday, Joe Gibbs said the team and manufacturer tore down the motors to figure out what happened at Martinsville. The discovery revealed certain parts that led to the failure and dismal finishes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got all the parts, we laid them out,\u201d Gibbs said on Monday. \u201cWe had a full discussion on where we are and what happened.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we kind of have understood where we are and what those parts were and have made adjustments, for sure. Those parts will not be in the cars for this weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we feel good about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Stats on Hamlin\u2019s Side<\/p>\n The saying of \u201cthe numbers don\u2019t lie\u201d play heavily into Hamlin\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n In 40 career starts at Phoenix, Hamlin has two wins (2012 and 2019) while earning three pole awards, 17 top five and 23 top 10 finishes. He\u2019s led 939 laps and completed 99.5 percent of all laps contested.<\/p>\n Come this Sunday, he only needs to lead one to become a NASCAR Cup Series Champion.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTim Packman<\/a> Tim Packman is a journalist for Heavy.com covering NASCAR. He grew up around the short tracks of Western New York watching his dad, stepdad and step brother race. His uncle was the head starter at many area tracks and member of the FOAR Score Hall of Fame.
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\nTim’s passion for racing took him to the announcer’s tower and writing program stories for multiple tracks in the area, namely Lancaster National Speedway. In 2000, he moved to Mooresville, NC to become an award-winning journalist for NASCAR.com. He took a job with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as the team’s Communications Director and was part of two Daytona 500 wins and two NASCAR Championships.
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\nThe announcing experience led to becoming a Pit Reporter and News Director for MRN Radio. A return to the team side at Richard Childress Racing as the Director of Corporate Communications took place, which also included another Championship.
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\nFrom 2015 to 2018, Tim returned to where his career began in 1994 – Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway – as the Track President. He earned Short Track Promoter of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017.
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\nUpon returning to NC, he joined The Garage Shop as Communications Director and host of it’s Podcast and MAV-TV docuseries “Legacy of Speed” talking about Land Speed Racing at Bonneville, and other places.
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\nTim has hosted two other Podcasts, namely “Pub Table Racers,” and wrote three books. One was with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison titled, “Bobby Allison, a Racer’s Racer” and two Children’s books, “Funny Dan the Race Car Man” and “Petey the Pace Car.”
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\nHe also served in the US Navy. More about Tim Packman<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n