“I stayed up 42 hours straight”: Denny Hamlin admits to his epic celebration after milestone win in Las Vegas 

Denny Hamlin recently achieved a significant milestone during his last race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (October 12). The Joe Gibbs Racing star won his 60th NASCAR Cup Series win at the South Point 400 playoff race and secured his spot at the Championship 4 race in Phoenix.

In a late-race charge, passing Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe with fresh tires, Hamlin took the checkered flag and ranked himself 10th alongside Kevin Harvick in the all-time win list. Reflecting on the same and the celebrations that followed, the 44-year-old candidly recounts his marathon celebration, which lasted for 42 hours.

Speaking with Shannon Spake in The Day After interview, Hamlin said:

"I knew my friends were going to ask me, 'Are we staying? Are we going home? What are we doing?' And so I'm like, 'Okay. I mean, if you can't celebrate this one, you'll never celebrate.' So, I did. We stayed. I stayed up, I think it was 42 hours straight. So I am just now getting somewhat back to normal... It was fun."

In the same interview, Denny Hamlin admitted that he set a goal to reach 60 Cup wins. However, one thing that has eluded the NASCAR veteran in his two-decade-long career is a Cup Series title. As of writing, the #11 driver is the only star to be locked in the Championship 4 race in Phoenix.

---

"We’re going to have a great shot at it": Denny Hamlin opens up on his 'extra time' to prepare for Phoenix finale

Denny Hamlin - NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 - Source: Getty

Denny Hamlin is set to venture in the Championship 4 race for the first time after 2021. With a win in the Round of 8 opener race, the Toyota driver Hamlin will have two extra weeks of preparation as compared to his peers.

Reflecting on the same, Hamlin, in his Actions Detrimental podcast, said (18:18 onwards):

"We’re going to have a great shot at it. These things are hard to predict. It's one race... but I'm looking forward to it. I feel like I definitely can get better at Phoenix. I'm certainly gonna spend the time to try to work on getting better there. I've got some extra time now to work on it. I haven't had that."

While Hamlin will prepare for his Phoenix setup, his teammates, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, are 20 and 15 points above the cutline, heading into the Talladega race.

NASCAR will next return in action for the YellaWood 500 race on Sunday, October 19, at 2 p.m. ET.