Hallman: Denny Hamlin has turned from NASCAR heel to hero as his historic career enters its third decade

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Randy Hallman is a lifelong journalist whose career, most of it with The Richmond News Leader and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, includes more than a half century of writing about motorsports. 

Much has changed since Denny Hamlin strapped into a NASCAR Cup Series car to run his first race in 2005. The sport and the world around it have undergone profound transformations.  

However, as the teams arrive for Saturday evening’s 400-lap race at Richmond Raceway – the hometown track for Hamlin, who grew up in Chesterfield County – at least one NASCAR constant stands out: Hamlin knows how to win.

Hamlin will be 46 in November. He is NASCAR’s Old Man River – he just keeps rolling. He has won races in 20 of his 21 seasons as a full-time Cup driver, the exception being 2018. 

Some drivers – even some of NASCAR’s all-time great stars – have noticeably slowed by the time they reach their mid-40s. Not Hamlin, not at all. This is one of his best years ever.

After 23 of this season’s 36 races, Hamlin leads the series point standings and is almost certain to be the top seed when the 10-race championship playoff run begins. 

Hamlin is particularly successful racing on the three-quarter-mile D-shaped Richmond Raceway. Of the 37 Cup races he has started there over the years, Hamlin has won five – more than any other active driver.

No surprise, then, that the professional oddsmakers favor Hamlin to win Saturday’s Cook Out 400. 

Off the track, Hamlin has been an agent of change. 

To begin with, he has won over at least some of the fans who for years regarded him as a smart-alec and made him the target of their jeers. 

At times he seemed to revel in his unpopularity. After one or his wins he famously looked up at the booing crowd and declared on the PA system, “I beat your favorite driver today.” When the interviewer asked which driver, Hamlin laughingly boasted, “all of ‘em.” 

But the jeering softened in the last year or two. Some fans appeared to appreciate his bravado. Others became aware that Hamlin, like all of us, was dealing with life’s sharp turns.

Last year, Hamlin shared with the world that his father was terminally ill. Hamlin’s only missing achievement on his NASCAR resume is his failure to win a season championship, and he said he hoped to win his first while his father was alive.

Hamlin came ever so close to winning the 2025 title. It slipped out of his grasp in the closing laps of the final race in November. Then, in December, his father died – not of his illness, but as a result of injuries suffered in a house fire. 

For many fans, that devastating news changed things. Years of disapproval evaporated – replaced by a wave of we’re-all-in-this-together sympathy.

Besides personal matters that have endeared him to some, Hamlin has had a profound impact on the sport, both as a competitor and as an industry figure.

In addition to his 64 career wins, ninth-best total in NASCAR history, he has established his own team, 23XI. The team can realistically consider itself one of the four best multi-car teams in the Cup Series, and boasts the only driver who has won more often than Hamlin this year, Tyler Reddick.

There’s more. Hamlin brought into the sport, as his team co-owner, one of the most famous athletes of all time, retired NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

Hamlin is a longtime basketball junkie, having organized his own amateur league in the NASCAR community. Jordan, conversely, is a longtime fan of motorsports. He has been in the pits with the 23XI team at several events. The enthusiastic presence of a world-famous Black athlete attracts a wider audience for NASCAR.

Moreover, the 23XI team was one of only two that had the temerity to revolt against NASCAR’s charter system. Under the system, the sanctioning body could easily revoke any of the 36 charters that guarantee teams starting positions in Cup Serie races, absolutely crucial to succeeding in the sport. 

The two teams refused to sign NASCAR’s required agreement. NASCAR moved to revoke the teams’ charters. The dispute went to court. 

After months of messy revelations, and lawyer-speak about who was right and who was wrong, a trial began. It did not turn out to be a fight to the finish.

NASCAR agreed to a settlement that essentially ceded ownership of the charters to the teams. NASCAR’s position is weaker, but the settlement appears to be a bonanza for the teams. Industry experts estimate that the value of a charter may by now have doubled from $50 million to $100 million.

Hamlin has also become a level-headed spokesman regarding the sport through his thoughtful podcast – “Actions Detrimental,” a half-kidding name plucked from a catch-all phrase that gives NASCAR wide discretion to enforce its rules.

On his podcast, which he started in 2023, Hamlin discusses all manner of issues – competition, personalities, social matters, technical problems.

Recently, at NASCAR’s annual race at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, all race long the cars were virtually unable to overtake each other. On Actions Detrimental, Hamlin outlined a simple aerodynamic change that he said restore to the cars the ability to pass. 

Hamlin went on to suggest that NASCAR form a competition panel to take up such issues. He volunteered to be a member of such a panel.

The obvious organizer of a panel like that would be NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer. A Chesapeake native, Sawyer once raced weekends on Virginia short tracks, as did Hamlin. 

Asked if Hamlin’s suggestion of a competition panel might work, Sawyer did not close the door.

“It’s important for us to listen to all the voices in our sport,” Sawyer said. “We want to hear from fans, from drivers, from crew members, from team owners, from our media partners, from track operators. They’re all part of our sport.”

All the voices, Sawyer said. Hamlin can lend his as fan, as team owner and as media partner.

And, oh yeah, for at least a while longer as driver – among the most successful of all time.