Hamlin still looking toward 2027 as the sunset of his Cup career but has more goals in mind

In the summer of 2025, after it was announced that he had signed a Joe Gibbs Racing contract extension, Denny Hamlin said it was most likely going to be his last.

As the calendar pages tick away on the first year of the extension, Hamlin is not ready to move from "most likely" to "definitely." But in his mind, the 2027 season will be his swan song in the NASCAR Cup Series and with Joe Gibbs, where he has driven since 2005.

“Well, things always change – you just never know,” Hamlin said Saturday at Darlington Raceway. “But it’s what I would like. I don’t know all the moving parts and pieces beyond what happens between now and about 20 months from now. You just don’t know. But I thought that was a good enough timeline and enough heads-up that they could make plans.”

According to Hamlin, the timeline has indeed enabled Gibbs to begin working on what things would look like when he’s no longer in the driver’s seat. Plus, the way things are going for Hamlin at this point in his career, it’s the perfect time to be able to say when he wants to be done versus that decision being taken out of his hands. Or having his career wind down when he’s no longer competitive.

“I don’t want to go my last half of the year or year like, ‘Can’t wait to get out,’” said Hamlin. “If I could end on seasons like this one is starting, then that would be a successful last year for me.”

Something that Hamlin does know for sure is that his win record is starting to look as good as it’s going to get. The most recent winner in the series last weekend in Las Vegas and the defending winner at Darlington, Hamlin has 61 victories and counting.

Being a numbers-and-data-driven driver, Hamlin has already looked and believes 67 might be the mark he reaches by the time he calls it quits. Although he had a six-win season last year, Hamlin has averaged about three wins a season for much of his career.

To break it down, in three of his previous 20 seasons, Hamlin won exactly three races. There were more than three wins in six seasons. The others were seasons of two wins or fewer.

“Just averages over the years,” said Hamlin of the 67 number. “If you average over the last 10 years or something like that, it’s about three and a half wins a year. So that puts me right around that number. And that’s assuming I don’t wake up in 2027 with a declining skill set. That’s why it’s still a goal. It’s not the pie in the sky, but it’s also still going to take some work to do.”

There are two things that are absent from what is a Hall-of-Fame-worthy resume for Hamlin. The biggest is the Cup Series championship, which he came the closest to finally crossing off his list last season, only to be denied by a caution with three laps to go in the finale. The other is a win in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. It is the only crown jewel race that Hamlin hasn’t won.

Oh, and when it comes to the end for Hamlin and whether that turns out to be 2027 or not, he doesn’t want a farewell tour.

“No,” he said. “I’m good on that.”