"Definitely the one that got away": Denny Hamlin looks back on his closest shot at ultimate NASCAR glory

Denny Hamlin spoke about the one window in his career when he came the closest to winning the Cup Series championship. The NASCAR veteran is one of the most accomplished drivers in the sport's history. So far, he has won 56 races, which puts him 11th all-time.

However, despite all his wins, three of which came in the prestigious Daytona 500, Denny Hamlin has yet to win a Cup title. But the #11 driver has come close to the elusive championship on several occasions. In a conversation with his former teammate Kyle Busch on May 13, Hamlin pointed to the time he came the closest.

During a recent episode of Actions Detrimental, Busch spoke about his promo video with Brad Keselowski regarding the return of Homestead as a championship venue in 2026. The Miami-based racetrack last hosted the penultimate race of the season in 2019, after which it was shifted to Phoenix.

"People ask all the time, what was my best opportunity to win one? I thought that day was the one. I thought '19 was the one. That was when we put a garbage bag size piece of tape on the front. It was that big. Yeah, looking for speed. I think I was running second to you at the time.

"I was, I usually try to keep a little in reserve for the end of the race and I was, 'I think I can get him but who knows how that would all play out ...' that was definitely one that got away," Hamlin claimed.

It's worth mentioning that while Denny Hamlin missed out on the shot at his first Cup title at Homestead in 2019, Kyle Busch furthered his legacy in that race.

The former #18 driver won his second Cup title. He's ahead of Denny Hamlin in the win-tally as well with 63 wins, the 9th most of all time.

Denny Hamlin explains why Phoenix Raceway deserved to host the championship race

After hosting the season championship weekend from 2019 onwards, NASCAR announced that Phoenix would no longer be the host from next season. In its place, Homestead Miami would be the racetrack where next season's champion would be decided.

This was something which Denny Hamlin claimed he was 'glad' for. However, he praised Phoenix for its recent development in terms of the facilities, the fan interaction, and so on. He spoke about how Phoenix invested a lot of money in their facility to upgrade it to a championship venue standard.

"The town always supports us. We go there, it's still out crowded. It doesn't matter if it's spring or the fall championship race. Phoenix fans show out for us and which is why they've deserve to have the championship race for so long," Hamlin said.

As for the racing product at Phoenix, Denny Hamlin claimed that with the option tire, the race didn't get to play out that well in the spring. He added that in his opinion, it could get 'significantly better' with the red tire or the one they would eventually choose for the championship race at the end of 2025.