Kyle Petty makes a bold claim about Denny Hamlin’s NASCAR legacy: “Going to be the last guy to climb that mountain”

Denny Hamlin is just one victory away from reaching the coveted 60-win mark, which will tie him with Kevin Harvick for fifth on the all-time wins list. There are solid chances that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will pull off the feat within the next few weeks, given that he started inside the top five in his last four starts, with the last two being back-to-back poles.

NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty thinks the world of Hamlin. The way he sees it, nobody is going to attain that 60-win mark anytime soon. There are drivers like Kyle Larson and Joey Logano who could try to achieve that number, but in the NextGen era, it’s not that easy.

Petty shared his views on Hamlin’s legacy in a recent video by NASCAR on X. Furthermore, he thought that Hamlin would not stop at 60.

“Denny is doing something, I'm telling you guys,” Petty said. “Somebody may prove me wrong, but I think he's gonna be the last guy to climb that mountain and put that stick in the ground up there that says 60 time winner plus, because I don't think he's gonna stop at 60.”

Last Sunday at World Wide Technology Speedway, Denny Hamlin bagged his fifth victory of the season, his first of the 2025 playoffs. He is now locked into the Round of 12, which will kick off at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, September 21 onwards.

The closest Denny Hamlin has been to adding the titular win to his resume was back in 2010, when he finished the season second behind seven-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson. For now, all eyes are on next Saturday’s race (September 13) at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Named Bass Pro Shops 300, the 500-lap event will stream live on USA (7:30 p.m. ET) with exclusive radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Despite a series-high victory count, Denny Hamlin remains a “student” of the sport

Through his long and illustrious career, Denny Hamlin won several prestigious races, including the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500. Today, he is one of the winningest drivers in the entire series, sitting at the top of the Cup Series standings.

However, Hamlin thinks that he is still a student of this game. Every week, his team gets the chance to get better and better.

“I mean, all I can do is just keep being a student of the game, keep trying to get better, and every week is a chance to get a little better,” said the driver. "I just told (Bill Murray) him to talk to the guys behind me and make sure they stay behind me the rest of the race. So we made that happen.”

“Man, it’s just a great victory. Love that Denny Time flag. You all can boo me, but you can either get on the bandwagon, or you can get run over by it,” he added.

Denny Hamlin’s JGR teammate Chase Briscoe, too, made the Round of 12 with his victory last week at Darlington Raceway. As things stand, Ty Gibbs is the only driver from the JGR camp who has yet to record their maiden win of the 2025 season.