Denny Hamlin doesn’t know when his last victory — or race for that matter, will be — but the NASCAR Cup Series veteran is enjoying the on-track success even more these days.

Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE

Hamlin recorded his fifth victory of the 2025 season Sunday in the Enjoy Illinois 300, the most of the competition this year and his highest win count since a seven-win season in 2020.

“You never know when it’s your last,” Hamlin said post-race at World Wide Technology Raceway. “(Gateway) could be my last win… We just never know. I try my best to enjoy the moment and do the best I can to rile up the fans any chance I get.”

The Gateway win also eclipsed Toyota’s 200th victory in Cup Series competition; with Hamlin picking up 56 of his victories behind-the-wheel of a Camry racecar.

Hamlin, with 59 career total victories, is now one win away from tying Kevin Harvick for 10th on the all-time NASCAR wins list.

Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin race ahead of Kyle Larson at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2019. Hamlin is one win away from tying Harvick on the NASCAR Cup Series all-time wins list. Photo: Marcus Leno/TRE

The JGR driver has documented he would like to retire among the Top-10 all-time winners in the series when his driving days are over.

At 44 years old, Hamlin is the oldest full-time driver in the series. By the time his current contract ends with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2027, Hamlin will end that season at 46 years old.

And Hamlin is assuming the deal he inked to stay in the No. 11 car through 2027 will be his final.

Hamlin has maintained he wants to stop driving while he is still competitive.

“The countdown has begun,” Hamlin said. “I just don’t want to end knowing, ‘Man, those last 70 races, I didn’t really give it my all. I could have had 70 wins any really buckled down. I’m going to regret one day not having the wins that the work ethic kept me from doing.’ 

“That would weigh on me well beyond my driving career. There’s no way I could live with the weight on my shoulders knowing that I shipped it in for the last 70 or so races.”

Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE

While Hamlin realizes more races are behind him than ahead of him, he is still chasing his elusive first NASCAR Cup Series title.

Hamlin has the highest win count in NASCAR Cup Series history without winning the title. However, winning the championship isn’t a part of his metric or considered in his countdown.

Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE

“It’s always been about number of races (won),” Hamlin said. “The only one I thought about was this year and the Daytona 500, thinking that probably only going to do this twice more. Brickyards, right? I haven’t won the freaking Brickyard. 

“I’m going to have two more shots at it, and that’s it, to round this thing out. There’s certain races that I do have countdowns for. 

“Championships isn’t one of ’em. Obviously it’s well-documented that I want to get the wins, and I feel like that will carry its weight long after.”

Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.

From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.

Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.

You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.