Hamlin ties and honors Busch at Michigan

Denny Hamlin celebrated the 63rd win of his NASCAR career by honoring the driver whose mark he tied, and who also happened to be his former teammate.

Hamlin and Kyle Busch are tied at eighth on the all-time wins list in the Cup Series. Joe Gibbs Racing had a flag ready for Hamlin post-race as he came back down the frontstretch, which had a No. 18 on it and Busch’s signature. It was the number Busch drove for 15 years while at Gibbs from 2008 through 2022.

The black flag featured No. 1 in black with a white outline in Joe Gibbs Racing-styled front. The No. 8 was white with a red outline, as stylized by Richard Childress Racing, where Busch had raced since 2023.

“The offseason was rough for me; it was for the NASCAR family. We lost a lot of people,” Hamlin said. “This week, we lost Gentleman Ned [Jarrett], the original badass of the 11. We’re still thinking of Kyle, Samantha, Brexton, (and) Lennix.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling to strap in every week, and I don’t take it for granted, this opportunity that I’m in. I just love that we’re making the best of it.”

Michael Annett, who made starts in all three NASCAR national series, passed away on Dec. 2, 2025. He was 39.

On Dec. 18, Greg Biffle and six others were killed in a plane crash. The former champion of the Craftsman Truck and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series was 55.

And then on Dec. 28, Hamlin lost his father, Dennis, after a house fire. Mary Lou, his mother, was injured in the same incident.

Hamlin has won all 63 of his races driving for Gibbs and Toyota. He became a full-time Cup Series driver in 2006.

Busch won 56 races for Gibbs and Toyota during their partnership. The other victories came with Hendrick Motorsports (four) and Childress (three).

“Restart like Rowdy,” spotter Chris Lambert said over the No. 11 radio at the finish of the race. Race like Rowdy.”

“We love you, KB,” said Hamlin.

Hamlin began developing a design for the flag (as well as the hat he was wearing) on Monday after winning at Nashville Superspeedway. It felt worth doing something sooner rather than later to honor Busch, given the opportunity to win at Michigan again on Sunday.

“I’m thinking, OK, well, how to put the 8, but I know him as the 18. I don’t know the right thing,” Hamlin explained. “Then this person owns this font, and that person owns this trademark, and it’s like, we had to have some collaboration, and I appreciate RCR letting us use the stylized 8 with the Joe Gibbs Racing 1, and it was just a happy balance that I felt good about when it all came out.

“The NASCAR community has been through it certainly over the last few weeks, but generally in the last six to eight months, it’s been tough. I wanted to pay my respects to someone that I really did look up to and taught me so much as a teammate. There is nothing we can say or do that is going to make his family feel better, but at least during that little time you can pay him the respect he deserves.”

And what would Busch’s reaction have been to Hamlin tying his win mark?

“He would have been pissed today, absolutely,” chuckled Hamlin. “But I would have said to him, ‘You’ll be around here longer. You’ll get me back.’”