“They Thought I was Washed Up!” Denny Hamlin Takes a Sly Dig at Haters After Matching Kyle Busch’s NASCAR Win Record

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin produced a milestone moment last Sunday at Michigan, after he matched the career wins of Kyle Busch. He used the moment to pays respect to his late former teammate, by doing a burnout with custom flag featuring the number 18, with the eight being stylized RCR eight, representing the legends time with JGR and well as the Chevy team.

It puts him nine in the all-time winners list, where he will most probably end his career at considering he is 45 years old and needs 13 more wins to match Dale Earnhardt Sr. ahead of him. But getting into the P9 is really special for him, as he never expected to match his firmer TRD teammate, as Buch was always winning more than him till he left JGR to join RCR.

Certainly, it moves you up the totem pole just another one position, right? This is where it’s going to end. I’ll end up ninth on the list when it’s all said and done. But it’s just significant because for all of my Cup career it was like Kyle Busch wins, Kyle Busch wins, Kyle Busch wins, Kyle Busch wins. And then it’s like, ‘Wow, I was able to win that much.’

Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.

Further talking about the point, he recalled the times the majority of the fans were calling to get him axed after his poor 2018 season. Many saw it as the end of the veteran career, calling him washed-up and the fact that he had more haters back then, than he has now made it tough. But now Denny Hamlin is laughing at the haters, being most dominant as he has ever been in the 2020’s.

I’ll never forget, everyone on social media wanted me fired in 2018. They thought I was washed up eight years ago. There weren’t many (Denny) Bros around in 2018 when I wasn’t winning, didn’t win a race. That’s why you can’t let those folks get to you.

Denny Hamlin added via Actions Detrimental.

He is cherishing the late resurgence in form in his career, as he is winning races almost two decades after his maiden win in the Cup Series. There has never been another driver barring Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, to perform on an elite level after passing 40’s post 2010s. It has earned him a spot among the greatest ever in the sport, despite never winning the Bill France Cup.

With Hamlin proving he can still compete at the highest level well into his 40s, fans looking to back him for future race wins can check the latest NASCAR odds to see where he stacks up against the field.

The longevity of it certainly helps. This is almost, this weekend will be, it was almost four days from being 20 years apart from my first win. That’s probably, to me, the proudest accomplishment, is just being able to honestly say in Year 20-something, I think 21 or so, that this is as good as I’ve ever been. That’s, to me, the most proud I am.

Denny Hamlin asserted.

Denny Hamlin admits he can’t race and win for a long

One of the major questions in the garage at the moment is how long the JGR veteran is going to continue racing in the Cup. Talking about it, he admitted that he went be able to remain as dominant as he is now in the long-run and at the moment is focussed on the short-term goals.

Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think that this is quite sustainable for the long haul. I think we better enjoy it in the short run.

Denny Hamlin said.

He has confirmed previously that he would race as long as he can win races consistently with the team and will retire the moment, he realizes he no longer is capable of being competitive against the current grid. It would be interesting to see what will be the future of the No:11 Toyota team.

Also Read: Kurt Busch Breaks Silence on Kyle Busch’s Death with a Tear-jerking Statement