Denny Hamlin Reaches Major NASCAR Career Milestone at Bristol
· Yahoo Sports
Denny Hamlin will add another milestone to an already remarkable NASCAR résumé Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
When Hamlin takes the green flag in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran will make his 750th career NASCAR Cup Series start.
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It is a significant longevity marker for a driver whose career has been defined by far more than simply sticking around.
More than two decades after arriving in the Cup Series, Hamlin remains one of NASCAR’s premier drivers. He enters Bristol with four victories this season and, through the first two races of The Chase, sits atop the championship standings.
Now comes start No. 750 at a track that has played a major role in his career.
Denny Hamlin reaches 750 Cup starts at Bristol
Hamlin’s Cup career began in 2005, when he made seven starts for Joe Gibbs Racing before taking over the No. 11 Toyota full time the following season.
He has been a fixture near the front of NASCAR’s field ever since.
The Virginia native has accumulated dozens of Cup victories, won three Daytona 500s and built one of the most accomplished careers of his generation. His longevity is made even more impressive by the fact that, at 45, Hamlin isn’t merely adding starts to his career total.
He’s still chasing championships and winning races.
Bristol provides an appropriate setting for No. 750.
Hamlin has four career Cup victories at the half-mile track, including consecutive Bristol wins spanning the 2023 Night Race and the spring race in 2024. He finished ninth when the Cup Series last visited Bristol in April.
Saturday night presents another opportunity to add to that history, only this time with a milestone attached.
Hamlin reaches milestone while leading The Chase
There is also considerably more at stake than the celebration surrounding Hamlin’s 750th start.
He arrives at Bristol leading The Chase with 2,168 points, nine ahead of Kyle Larson and 18 ahead of Christopher Bell.
That puts Hamlin in an unusual position for a driver reaching this stage of his career. Start No. 750 isn’t arriving during a farewell tour or a season spent reflecting on everything that came before it.
It comes with Hamlin sitting atop NASCAR’s championship standings and trying to capture the biggest prize still missing from his résumé.
For one night at Bristol, however, the numbers tell two stories.
One is about where Hamlin has been. The other is about just how much he still has left to race for.