“The end is near, brother”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. delivers a ‘cold, hard truth’ on Denny Hamlin’s future victory lane celebrations

Dale Earnhardt Jr. touched upon Denny Hamlin's future victory lane celebrations, where the former NASCAR star predicted the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's future in the sport. According to Dale Jr., Hamlin is expected to win around six races before he parts ways with the sport.

Earnhardt Jr. recently sat down to discuss the recently concluded NASCAR Michigan race weekend. While speaking about it, he focused on Hamlin's victory at the FireKeepers Casino 400 and how many more races the #11 driver will win in the future.

Reacting to the statistics, Earnhardt Jr. stated that Hamlin will race two more years, approximately, and, averaging three wins a year, he will win six more races. The former NASCAR driver said in the Dale Jr. Download podcast, by Dirty Mo Media:

"After 700 starts, Jeff Gordon won six races, after 700 starts, Kevin Harvick won seven. Take Richard Petty off the list because he won 22 after 700 starts but he was 38 or 39, when he made his 700 starts. So he's [Denny] got one after 700. How many more does he win?"

"Before that race in Michigan, I thought his over/under was six, the line was six wins, like could you imagine, going into Michigan, thinking Denny Hamlin's gonna win only six races, the rest of his life? He's maybe moved that line to maybe eight or nine wins."

Following this, he predicted the 'cold, hard truth' about Denny Hamlin:

"If Jeff Gordon won six, and Harvick won seven, and they were on the higher end of the range, right? They were the ones who won more than anyone else. He feels like he's at the top of his game, driving better than ever. Could you imagine if he only wins five or six more races in his career? That sounds wild, but that's what the math will tell you. Right out in front of me, six more trips to the victory lane. That's a cold, hard truth. The end is near, brother."

Denny Hamlin crossed 701 races at Michigan last Sunday, which took him 21 years of his life. According to his overall Cup Series career, Hamlin has 57 wins, 43 poles, and 366 Top 10s. Given Earnhardt Jr.'s prediction, Hamlin will not reach more than 63 wins in his career before retirement.

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Denny Hamlin's 2025 NASCAR Cup Series statistics in a nutshell

Denny Hamlin (11) crosses the finish line to win the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. - Source: Imagn

Thanks to his victory at the Michigan International Speedway, Denny Hamlin moved up to third in the drivers' championship. He has 494 points after 15 races, thanks to three wins, seven top-fives, and eight top-10s.

He is only behind the Hendrick Motorsports duo of William Byron and Kyle Larson. Hamlin has led 455 laps and has an average start position of 11.733 and an average finish position of 13.467.

Hamlin won two back-to-back races at Martinsville and Darlington to qualify for the 2025 playoffs, but missed out on three wins after Kyle Larson stopped him at Bristol. At Nashville, the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver came home in third, following which he claimed his third win at Michigan.