Denny Hamlin is most afraid of Father Time at this stage of his career.
At 44-years-old, the perennial NASCAR Cup Series contender for Joe Gibbs Racing knows the end of his driving career is much closer than the start. However, from a historical standpoint, there is no clear marker for when a race car driver loses enough to remain elite and Hamlin says that weighs on him sometimes.
“Generally, professionally speaking, I am afraid of the night I go to sleep and the morning I wake up that I’m no longer a competitive driver,” Hamlin said during NASCAR Media Day when asked what he is afraid of. “Like, I know it will happen at some point. And it seems like, from history and what I’ve seen, it happens like a light switch and suddenly your favorite race car driver that won all those races and championships back in the day suddenly can’t do it anymore, at least not at the level they could before.
“I worry about that switch going off and when it’s going to go off.”
Hamlin is already the most decorated NASCAR Cup Series driver without a championship. He has 54 victories at the highest level, including three wins in the Daytona 500. He averages around four wins a season, including three the past two seasons.
But again, he’s 44 and this is around the point where some drivers have been susceptible to that switch going off. There have been modern exceptions like Mark Martin winning multiple races into his 50s and Hamlin certainly keeps his physical fitness regimen up to a same standard but what happens when that day comes?
“I’ll quit,” Hamlin said. “I’ll quit. I’m out.”
He says it won’t be right in the middle of a season and he will do it professionally but he isn’t going to stick around to be anything other than what he has been.
“I’ll be sure to give the people relying on me a runway but no way I’m hanging around just to be a guy.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
