Denny Hamlin has been the dominant driver of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, and over the past few race weekends, it's finally started to show up in the wins category, not just the laps led category, where he's already on pace to complete obliterate his previous career high.
While his All-Star Race victory at Dover Motor Speedway in mid-May wasn't an official victory, his drive from last to first place at Nashville Superspeedway, coupled with another drive to first from the rear at Michigan International Speedway, moved him into a tie on the all-time Cup Series wins list with the late Kyle Busch.
Hamlin, whose 11.110-second FireKeepers Casino 400 margin of victory on Sunday is a new career-high and the largest for any driver at Michigan since June 1991, and his former teammate are now tied for ninth place on the wins list with 63 career victories.
Hamlin notably has 32 wins since his winless 2018 season, which at one point many fans felt could be the beginning of the end of an already illustrious career.
8 NASCAR Cup drivers ahead of Denny Hamlin
If Hamlin is to continue to move up the all-time wins list, the next driver up is Dale Earnhardt, who is eighth with 76 career victories.
Jimmie Johnson and Cale Yarborough both won 83 races and are tied for sixth. Darrell Waltrip is fifth with 84, and Bobby Allison is fourth with 85. Allison had been credited with 84 until an October 2024 decision officially altered a disputed result from 1971.
The top three drivers on the all-time wins list are Richard Petty with 200, David Pearson, who never actually ran full-time, with 105, and Jeff Gordon with 93.
Hamlin is the sport's all-time winningest driver without a championship to his name by 13 victories over Junior Johnson, who also never competed full-time. Hamlin passed Mark Martin, a 40-time race winner, among full-time drivers in that category back in 2020.
Next up on the 2026 schedule is Pocono Raceway, where Hamlin is a seven-time race winner. Can he make it three consecutive victories on Sunday at the "Tricky Triangle", where he most recently won in 2023 following his 2022 disqualification, after back-to-back drives from the back to the front?
Hamlin's Michigan win moved him to within 51 points of points leader Tyler Reddick. The 23XI Racing driver has led the standings after each of the season's first 15 races, but Hamlin's recent surge has resulted in the driver of the No. 11 Toyota overtaking Reddick as the championship betting favorite.
Live coverage of the Great American Getaway 400 is set to be provided by Amazon Prime Video from Pocono Raceway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 14.
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