Dale Earnhardt Jr. Urges Denny Hamlin ‘Push His Retirement Date Back’

Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has shared his thoughts on how Denny Hamlin should race longer in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Urges Denny Hamlin ‘Push His Retirement Date Back’

Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season so far has been impressive for JGR veteran Denny Hamlin. He is currently sitting P2 in the championship table, with three wins to his name and is the most inform racer in the garage. Many expected this to be year the veteran finally wins a championship, as the new “Chase Format” suits him.

At the same time, this might be his chance to win the Cup as father time is catching up to the 45-years old faster than ever. The veteran has hinted at the possibility of retiring at the end of 2027, but Hall of Famer Dale Eranhardt Jr. doesn’t want this to happen. On his podcast, the veteran asserted that the new format is a sign that the JGR racer should push his retirement date back.

The change of the points, the change of the points system and him feeling like he has his destiny in his hands lengthen his career. If he’s running relatively competitively and there’s races still to be won and he believes he can win them, he will move, he will push that date back. No, no f***ing question.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on his podcast.

Further talking about Denny Hamlin, the JR Motorsports co-owner pointed out that he has been saying every year that it’s the No:11 drivers’ year and he feels 2026 might be the year that will become a fact. According to the two times second division champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. the TRD driver is the racer to beat at the moment.

Every single year, we have said in every single year, man, this is Denny’s year. You know what? We said that last year, but this year is really Denny’s year. And are we not seeing it this year? I mean, he is better than everybody else right now and he was last year and the year before that and the year before that and the year before that. At this time in this sort of summer bulk, Denny has been the guy.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added via Dale Jr. Download.
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Denny Hamlin shared his regular season championship hopes

Talking to SiriusXM Radio recently, Hamlin talked about his hopes of winning the 2026 regular season championship over 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. He admitted that the title is attainable for him, but he wants to under promise and over deliver.

Denny Hamlin (via Imago)
Denny Hamlin (via Imago)

It’s attainable. I just, I’d rather under promise and over deliver to y’all on this one. I think it’s still going to be hard.

Denny Hamlin said.

Further talking about the point, the JGR veteran admitted that there are some tracks in the remaining 11 races of the regular season where his rival has an advantage over him. It is going to hard for him to sustain the current winning form.

There’s certainly at least a couple racetracks where I’m, you know, unless Tyler has bad luck, I’m going to lose points to him. But I don’t know. I mean, if I can keep winning every race that turns left and yeah, sure. We got a shot, but I just, I think there’s going to be hard to sustain over the long run.

Denny Hamlin added.

The comments from the JGR driver shows he knows Reddick is going to give him a run for his money in the remaining 11 races of the regular season. He would have to bank on the 23XI driver making mistakes to close the gap before the season ends. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the duo in the coming days.

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