“You Gotta Leave Some on the Table” – Denny Hamlin Explains Why He Won’t Be NASCAR’s LeBron James

But Denny Hamlin did it with his teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe applying the pressure on him in the final lap. Still, Hamlin has alluded to 2027 may be his final season ever in the Cup Series, and you can’t help but compare him to the oldest player in the NBA — LeBron James.

The 41-year-old James has already played 22 seasons in the NBA but isn’t looking to slow down. Meanwhile, Hamlin still can win in the Cup Series if he wants to. So when asked about the analogy, the Toyota driver broke down the difference between the two sports to explain why he walked away.

“Yeah, the difference is LeBron is able to — he has teammates,” Hamlin told Sirius XM Radio. He is the missing puzzle piece from a championship team. me, too, but I'm a bigger piece of the puzzle.

"So I feel like it would be hard for me to really, truly believe that I can go out there and win a championship in a 10-race Chase knowing that I lost some of my skill set.

Denny Hamlin and LeBron James might be in a similar situation, understandably, but their sports are the exact opposite of each other. More fundamentally, one is an individual sport, one is a team sport on the end of the day.” There’s no denying Hamlin is one of the best drivers on the track when you look at the Cup Series standings. He is a scary opponent. But he wants to ride off into the sunset after 2027, on a high note.

“Always my goal has been to win my last race,” Hamlin said. “I’d love to win my last race in a Cup Series. That’s against the type of scenario, really hard to do, but I want to be capable of it at least and know I have a chance.

My ego is very paranoid of the downtrend and it’s going to come. We don't know when it is." I just want to get ahead of the thing before it really does it. And sometimes you’ve got to leave some on the table and say, ‘I’m not running next year.’” I could. But I don’t.”

He’s not wrong. Last season James had to deal with the ire of many Lakers fans as he had a down season. Hamlin is the oldest driver on the NASCAR grid now and he just wants to stay ahead of the curve and leave before such a situation even arises that he turns from a hero to a villain for his team or fans. Many drivers of the younger generation will also be able to compete at the same level as him. And ultimately the glory of ending your career on a winning note is something Hamlin craves deeply.

Hamlin left the Xfinity Series three years ago with a win at Darlington. Hamlin who made late-stage moves to lead 14 laps on his way to the victory lane in a strategic way.

In his post-race interview he said “We really did a good job of keeping everything we had.

But in the world of the NASCAR these stories are more like fairy tales.

Let’s consider a recent example. Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin began racing in NASCAR at roughly the same time. Busch was certainly better than Hamlin in every part of NASCAR. He's a two-time champion and has won 234 races in the three NASCAR national series.

Despite all his accolades though the media and fandom didn’t hesitate to criticize him over his winless slump for the past three years. He was the same driver who had an amazing streak of 19 straight seasons with a win. But as his losses began to look more severe than his wins, he was no longer a force to be reckoned with in the eyes of the NASCAR community.

Hamlin probably would like to avoid that outcome.

The same went for his tragic loss in the final race last year. If Hamlin called it a career in NASCAR after 2025 he would forever be known as the driver who could never win a championship. But Hamlin knew he could run as well or better in the coming season so he kept racing. Now he is looking forward to another championship battle and a potential title before he ends his NASCAR career.

Can Denny Hamlin finally go all the way?

Denny Hamlin, second in the driver standings 97 points behind Tyler Reddick has two wins this year. There's no question Hamlin's blistering speed from last year carried over or even improved this season. After 14 races into the season Hamlin has reached the mark of qualifying for the Chase.

Right now Hamlin’s eyes are on the Regular Season title and the bonus points that come with starting the Cup Series post-season. With Toyotas running as well as they are, it’s highly unlikely Hamlin will lose his spot and fall out of the top three. On top of that, Hamlin is regularly running near the front row during the race.

Denny Hamlin has nine top tens, and seven top fives, as of Nashville’s Cup race. His only glitch is his weird knack for fumbling race restarts, especially in overtime. He agrees, too.

“No other weaknesses but my restarts. I’ve got to work on it.”

He already has lost two wins this year because of race restarts. First it was Kansas, where he was beaten by Tyler Reddick. Then came Texas, where Hamlin couldn’t hold off Chase Elliott and handed him the win.

Hamlin would want to work on his skills during the short runs and overtime starts considering how a race restart ended up stealing his championship title away from him for no fault of his own last year. Maybe with that he can finally be the champion he so desperately wants to be.