“He will be missed when he’s gone”: Fans react as Denny Hamlin calls latest JGR deal “most likely” his final contract extension 

Denny Hamlin called his recent contract extension “most likely” his final before retiring from NASCAR. As one of the longest-tenured drivers on the grid, Hamlin has garnered fans who expressed their sentiments over the driver's career.

Hamlin debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time driver in 2006 with Joe Gibbs Racing, back when the team was still partnered with Chevrolet. Since then, he has won 58 races (11th on the all-time list), though he hasn't secured a single championship.

Following his win at Dover Motor Speedway last week, the 44-year-old sat down with the media at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and spoke about the possibility of retiring in the coming years. Hamlin answered whether the recent contract extension was his final,

“I would say probably most likely, Who knows, but most likely.” [0:34]

One fan would like to know if Denny Hamlin will retire at JGR, where the driver has spent all of his racing days in the premier series, but the fan was already glad with the extension deal. The fan wrote:

“Was waiting to hear if he said he would retire in JGR car. But cool... happy he’s not leaving. He will be missed when he’s gone I feel.” “😢,” another fan commented.

Meanwhile, some fans threw playful jabs at Denny Hamlin, arguing that the veteran NASCAR driver could stick in the sport longer than expected. One joked about Hamlin driving until his son Jameson Drew, who was born last month, enters the stock car racing series.

“Quit it... He's gonna race long enough to be on the same team as Jameson.... 😂,” the fan wrote. “He'll stay around long enough to stop complaining about the seventh-gen car, because he'll get to drive the eighth-gen 😂,” another X user said. “This guy gonna retire as Dan's are starting to like him more lol,” a fan stated.

One fan posted stats showing how the #11 JGR driver beat most of his competition throughout the years.

“DH is making this ‘getting old’ stuff look easy! Look how he stacks up head-to-head versus his rivals from '06 to now: he's beaten (Kyle) Larson in 210/385 race finishes, (William) Byron 169/272, (Christopher) Bell 123/200, (Chase) Elliott 183/342, (Ryan) Blaney 223/362, (Joey) Logano 336/594, (Kyle) Busch 345/687, Brad (Keselowski) 318/572...” the fan wrote.

This season, Hamin has the most wins after 21 races at four (he had 20 starts after missing the Mexico City race). He has also amassed 10 top-5s and 11 top-10s, putting him fourth in the points standings and 39 points behind the top-seeded Chase Elliott.

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Denny Hamlin reacts to his contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing

Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on the multi-year extension with Joe Gibbs Racing. He replied to the announcement using a GIF of Leonardo DiCaprio from the 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street, claiming, “The show goes on.”

Below is the post on X.

In addition to his seat at JGR, Denny Hamlin is a co-owner of 23XI Racing along with six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan. His team currently fields three drivers, namely Bubba Wallace (#23), Riley Herbst (#35), and Tyler Reddick (#45).

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Edited by Tushhita Barua