Denny Hamlin confesses that he ‘will never have’ the career longevity of Mark Martin

JGR veteran Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on how long he will race in NASCAR, before he finally retires from the sport.

Denny Hamlin confesses that he ‘will never have’ the career longevity of Mark Martin

Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin (Via IMAGO)

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin with his back-to-back wins at Martinsville and Darlington became the joint winningest racer in the history of the Toyota team’s history. With his two-decade long career with Joe Gibbs team, the No:11 racer has won 56 races and has established himself as the greatest racer to not win the title, alongside Mark Martin.

Recently Denny Hamlin has been talking about retirement, as he is already 44 years, an age when his fellow veterans often retire. He talked to Fox Sports Bob Poackrass about when he will consider retirement, he name dropped his ex-rival Kevin Harvick who races till he is 48 before finally hanging the fire-suit.

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I think people like Harvick, I think he was 48 when he retired. Like, he was still on top of his game as far as I was concerned. I think it’s different for everyone. Others you’ve seen get to 43 or 44 and the light switch goes off. You just never know.

Denny Hamlin told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.

This factor gives him some confidence that he has at least a few more years in his to race at the top level and keep performing among the elites. His goal in this short window he has is to win the most races he can with Joe Gibbs Racing and maybe later with his own team, 23XI Racing.

My drive is still there and obviously the performance is still there. I’m gonna try to just win all I can this window while it is still there.

Denny Hamlin added.

He then addressed the Mark Martin conversation, as the Hall of Famer raced at the top level even past his 50s. Hamlin believes that he won’t be able to have a career as long as Martins’ as he might surely lose the physical factors that is required to make him a better racer.

Mark Martin did it when he was 50 and was fantastic. There’s no way I’ll ever make it that far but again, everyone’s body, mind and eyesight are all different and it goes away at different times.

Denny Hamlin asserted.

Denny Hamlin remembers dead NASCAR personals from last week after Bristol P2

Last week NASCAR lost some of significant personals that dedicated big part of their life to the sport. Truck Series championship winning team owner and ex-racer Shigeaki Hattori died in an accident. HMS lost their senior PR personal Jon Edwards and the broadcasting community lose veteran Al Pearce.

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin (Via newsminimalist.com)

Denny Hamlin talked about these lost and remembered them, while talking about the results and Kyle Larson’s win, in his post-race interview after finishing second on Sunday at Bristol.

This weekend we’re all thinking about Jon Edwards’ family, Al Pearce, Shigeaki Hattori. We’ve lost a lot of great people in our sport over this past week. Our thoughts are with them.

Denny Hamlin said.

The comments from the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran shows the whole NASCAR community is mourning the unfortunate death. NASCAR also shared their thoughts via statements and by also sharing special videos dedicated to the deceased.