The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube in Las Vegas last weekend brought glad tidings for Denny Hamlin, who notched up his 61st career Cup Series win. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who lost out on the title in heartbreaking fashion in 2025, registered his first win of the 2026 season. And in the eyes of Dale Earnhardt Jr., it is a win that will end a long-standing curse in the JGR driver’s career.
Denny Hamlin Tipped to Finally Become Cup Series Champion by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
In the 2025 season, Hamlin won 6 races and reached the Championship Four race in Phoenix, where he was tipped as the heavy favorite to take the win. And for the most part, the prediction seemed to be coming true, with the 23XI Racing co-owner leading a race-high 208 of 319 laps.
However, a late-race caution turned the entire story around after a strategy call took the win away from Hamlin and handed it to Kyle Larson, who went on to become the champion.
Ever since, Hamlin’s life had taken a turn for the worse, with personal tragedies haunting the 45-year-old.
But now that Hamlin has returned to winning ways in the Cup Series, Earnhardt feels he has seen enough after just 5 races to make an educated guess about who will be crowned champion this year.
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Speaking on the latest episode of the “Dale Jr. Download” podcast, Earnhardt revealed how Hamlin’s performance left him so impressed that in his eyes, the No. 11 driver still has the talent to win the championship.
“I’ve seen enough. Denny Hamlin is my pick for the championship this year.”
Adding to his take, Earnhardt claimed that Hamlin was as hard a worker as any other driver on the grid, but he has talent that surpasses many of the all-time greats. Citing the example of Cale Yarborough, Earnhardt said that Hamlin is certainly better than drivers of Yarborough’s cadre before claiming that if the 45-year-old spent a few more years in the industry, he would have a shot at the NASCAR Mount Rushmore.
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Earnhardt’s claim comes from the fact that Hamlin has become only the fifth driver in NASCAR history to win at least 5 races after 700 career starts. Not only did the 45-year-old join the ranks of Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, and Richard Petty, but Hamlin also has the best win rate among all NASCAR drivers after 700 starts.
Calling the JGR driver an anomaly, the JRM co-owner added that many drivers naturally slow down after they turn 40, but that isn’t the case with Hamlin.
For Earnhardt, Hamlin continues to defy expectations by driving hard and fast. Earnhardt argues that Hamlin’s talent plus work ethic could give him a real shot at the title.
