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Denny Hamlin: Phoenix could be father's 'last chance' to see him win NASCAR Cup Series championship

Meby: Nick Geddes10/30/25NickGeddesNews
Denny Hamlin
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Denny Hamlin on Sunday will race for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. At 44 years old, it could be Hamlin’s last best opportunity to finally capture the sport’s biggest prize.

With 60 career wins, Hamlin is the most accomplished driver in NASCAR history without a championship to his name. He will look to change that at Phoenix Raceway with his father Dennis watching back at home. Dennis Hamlin is battling a serious illness and after his son won No. 60 earlier this month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin broke down in tears. He wanted to win it for his dad, and he did.

Hamlin has even more motivation to win at Phoenix. He admitted this could be his dad’s final chance to see him win a championship.

“Obviously, my dad has been a huge fan of mine, and I knew he was watching, and he knew how much 60 meant to me. Realistically, I know this is his last chance to get to see it if it does happen,” Hamlin said on Inside The Race. “… They’re the ones that made the sacrifices ultimately, right? I’m the one who said this is what I want to do, and they just had to figure out what all they were willing to sacrifice to make that happen. This is the chance if we’re going to do it, and he’s going to see it, it’s going to have to happen now.”

Denny Hamlin badly wants to win first NASCAR championship

To finally become a champion, Hamlin will have to outperform Chase Briscoe, William Byron, and Kyle Larson. It’s a wide-open Championship 4 and nobody you would definitively say is the favorite. Larson is the only driver of the four with a championship, winning it in 2021.

Larson would love to win his second championship at Phoenix. But if Hamlin beats him, he’ll be happy for him.

“He’s a deserving champion and nearing the end of his career, so if I couldn’t win, I’d love to see him because you’d think he’d have one on his resume. He deserves it,” Larson told Jenna Fryer of The Associated Press. “I could see how [his dad] absolutely gives extra motivation, and I think sympathy goes a long way.

“It’s not going to stop me from wanting to beat him, but there’s a lot of reasons a Denny Hamlin championship would feel good. I truly think everybody in the sport would be happy, probably even the folks at NASCAR.”