NASCAR: There is one streak Denny Hamlin didn’t end

Denny Hamlin ended a 12-race streak of NASCAR Cup Series races won by drivers under the age of 30. But there is one streak he didn’t end.

At his home track of Richmond Raceway, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin earned his first victory of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, becoming the seventh different driver to win through the first seven races of the 36-race season.

Hamlin passed Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron with just five laps remaining in Sunday’s 400-lap Toyota Owners 400 at the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) oval in Richmond, Virginia, and he won the race by 0.552 seconds over Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick in second place. Hamlin led only these five laps en route to victory lane.

As a result, the 41-year-old ended a record streak of 12 consecutive races that had been won by drivers under the age of 30, going back to Bubba Wallace’s — and 23XI Racing’s — first career win at Talladega Superspeedway early last October.

In fact, Hamlin’s win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway late last September had been the most recent win by a driver not in his 20s.

After Wallace, then 27, won at Talladega Superspeedway, 29-year-old Kyle Larson won at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Texas Motor Speedway, and Kansas Speedway. Alex Bowman, 28, then won at Martinsville Speedway before Larson capped off the season with a championship-winning victory at Phoenix Raceway.

To open up the 2022 season, 23-year-old Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, netting him his first career victory. Larson then won at Auto Club Speedway before Bowman won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Chase Briscoe, 27, then scored the first win of his career at Phoenix Raceway before Byron, 24, won at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ross Chastain, 29, then became the season’s third first-time winner by winning at Circuit of the Americas, delivering Trackhouse Racing Team their first ever win.

But while Hamlin ended this 12-race streak, there is another age-related Cup Series winning streak which he did not end.

We still haven’t seen a driver in his 30s win a race since A.J. Allmendinger, then 39, won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last August, delivering Kaulig Racing their first ever victory.

Between that win and Hamlin’s win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, five races were contested. Ryan Blaney, then 27, earned back-to-back wins at Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway before Hamlin, then 40, won at Darlington Raceway. Martin Truex Jr., 41, then took the checkered flag at Richmond Raceway before Larson did so at Bristol Motor Speedway.

This means that 19 consecutive races have been won by drivers not in their 30s.

But the craziness doesn’t stop there.

When he earned his historic win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last August, Allmendinger was a part-time driver. A full-time driver in his 30s still hasn’t won since mid-July.

Aric Almirola remains the most recent full-time driver in his 30s to find victory lane. Then 37, he did so on Sunday, July 18, 2021, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Between his win and Allmendinger’s, Larson was the only winner, winning at Watkins Glen International, though there was notably a three-week break during this stretch.

So in the last 21 races, no full-time driver in his 30s has found victory lane.

Who will bring an end to this streak, and will it end this weekend? Martinsville Speedway is scheduled to host the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 this Saturday, April 9. Fox Sports 1 is set to broadcast the race live beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to start your free trial of FuboTV today!