NASCAR: Denny Hamlin is closing in on an undesirable record

Yet another chance to win a NASCAR Cup Series championship passed Denny Hamlin by at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

“Maybe next year.”

That has become the phrase often used in regard to the NASCAR Cup Series championship hopes of three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin around this time of year, specifically in each of the last three Novembers.

Hamlin again fell short this past Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, finishing in third place among the four Championship 4 contenders.

Since making his series debut in 2005, eight different drivers, including Kyle Larson this past Sunday and Chase Elliott last year, have become first-time NASCAR Cup Series champions.

Hamlin’s name is not among those eight, despite the fact that he has won at least one race in 15 of his 16 seasons as a full-time driver and now sits in a 17th place tie on the all-time wins list with 46 victories.

He is now 0 for 5 in championship battles throughout his 16-year career, and he is 0 for 4 in the Championship 4 era with finishes of either third or fourth place in all four appearances in the winner-take-all round.

Despite qualifying for the Championship 4 in each of the last three seasons and being the only driver who can make that claim, Hamlin has led just two laps in these winner-take-all races — combined.

Hamlin is one of just two drivers to qualify for the Championship 4 in each of the last two years, and in both events, he was the only Championship 4 driver who failed to lead a single lap.

To put this in perspective, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has a higher laps led total (one) in these two races than Hamlin does. Even going back to 2019 when the championship decider was still contested at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hamlin and Stenhouse have led the same number of laps in season finales (two).

It goes without saying that there is a very real chance that the 41-year-old Chesterfield, Virginia native may not win a championship before he retires.

And if he were to retire without a title to his name, he has a chance to do so as the winningest non-champion of all-time.

Among full-time drivers, he already holds the record for most wins without a championship. He passed Mark Martin in that category (40) during his seven-win 2020 season.

Among all drivers, he trails Junior Johnson’s record (50) by four entering the 2022 season. Johnson never ran a full schedule and only competed in more than half of the races seven times during his 14-year career, so the fact that he never finished a season in the top five in points stands to reason.

But could Hamlin really get to 50 wins without a championship, given the fact that he has competed full-time for the better part of two decades?

It’s very possible, and it could happen as early as 2022. Two of the last three seasons have seen Hamlin win at least six races, and he needs just four to tie the record and five to break it.

Fortunately for him, if he does that, he would be positioning himself well to have another crack at a title.

But he is obviously going to need to lead at least one lap to truly have a shot.

The 2022 season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, February 20 with the 64th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.