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Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin posted a cryptic message after celebrating his third NASCAR victory of the season in Dover.
For the longest time, Denny Hamlin has been making his case as the greatest NASCAR driver to never win a championship. The Tampa-born driver further solidified this claim on Sunday night when he clinched his third victory of the 2024 season in the Würth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway.
After securing the lead in the 329th lap of the race, Hamlin fended off competition from Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson and drove home to victory lane for the third time after Bristol and Richmond. The win was also Hamlin's 54th of his Cup career, making him only the second driver with over 50 NASCAR race wins to not win a championship.
Following the win, Hamlin shared a picture of himself posing in front of the Dover Motor Speedway scoring pylon on X (formerly Twitter). The post was accompanied by the caption:
"Pylon works"
The caption is assumed to be a reference to NASCAR's decision to get rid of the pylons from certain tracks, including Texas and Talladega. Denny Hamlin was among the multiple drivers who expressed their displeasure with this decision. He previously stated (via Bob Pockrass):
"I think taking these down it’s just not as good. Maybe it's more of a sentimental thing from a purist like myself. But every track has its own ideas and we’ve seen it over time. Hopefully, it’s not a trend."
Denny Hamlin reflects on feast-or-famine 2024 season
While the victory was Hamlin's third of the season, it came on the heels of a DNF in Talladega last week. The 43-year-old registered a 30th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago.
Denny Hamlin is ranked fourth in the Cup standings following this shaky run of form. Reflecting on the situation, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran stated in the post-race press conference at Dover:
"I think we’ve led in every race this year, and not by accident or pit cycles. We’ve legit led. I would say this is the most competitive (season). It’s probably only our third top five though."
"We have three wins, three top fives. We either crash or we win. I really wish I could have Texas back and a few others. I expect to win every week. There’s no reason I shouldn’t expect to win," he added.
After 11 races in the 2024 season, Denny Hamlin has accumulated 361 points. Meanwhile, Dover runner-up Kyle Larson still leads the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 410 points.
