NASCAR: Denny Hamlin seeking to continue 11-year trend with first title

Denny Hamlin has a chance to extend a trend that has lasted for more than a decade in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning his first championship this Sunday.

It has been 12 years since Jimmie Johnson was crowned NASCAR Cup Series champion for the second time back in the 2007 season.

Since then, we have seen drivers crowned champion for the first time, the third time, the fourth time, the fifth time, the sixth time and the seventh time.

But never have we seen another two-time champion.

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In 2008, Johnson became a three-time champion with his third consecutive championship. He went on to win the 2009 and 2010 titles to become a four-time champion and then a five-time champion.

In 2011, Tony Stewart, already a two-time champion, secured his third and final championship. The following year, it was Brad Keselowski who won his first title.

Johnson proved that he was not done yet by returning to the top in 2013 and winning his sixth championship. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch then won the 2014 and 2015 championships, respectively, becoming the sport’s most recent new champions.

Johnson then tied the all-time championships record held by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt by winning his seventh championship in 2016 before Martin Truex Jr. won his first championship in 2017 and Joey Logano won his first championship in 2018.

Now here we are 12 years later, and once again, this trend could continue this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford EcoBoost 400.

In the Championship 4 era, which began back in the 2014 season, this trend has only not had a chance to end once — in 2014.

In 2015 and 2016, the Championship 4s each featured one one-time champion, Harvick and Busch, respectively. But in 2017 and 2018, they each featured three: Harvick, Busch and Keselowski in the former and Harvick, Busch and Truex in the latter.

None of these four drivers could end this trend at any point.

Once again the Championship 4 is set to feature three one-time champions — unsurprisingly, Busch, Harvick and Truex.

And once again, it is set to feature a driver who can keep this trend alive: Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin opened up the round of 8 finale below the Championship 4 cut line. He technically finished the round below the cut line in fifth place based on his point total, but because he won the finale at ISM Raceway, he advanced to the Championship 4.

Had he not won the race, Logano would have advanced to the Championship 4 in this place, and this wouldn’t even be a discussion since the whole field would be one-time champions and a new two-time champion would be guaranteed.

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Will Denny Hamlin keep this trend alive and make it 12 consecutive NASCAR Cup Series seasons without a two-time champion? Of the four Championship 4 drivers, Hamlin is the only driver who has won more than one race at Homestead-Miami Speedway with two victories, although Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. have each won at the track more recently than Hamlin has.

NBC’s live broadcast of the Championship 4 race, the Ford EcoBoost 400, is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET this afternoon from the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Homestead, Florida.

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