Denny Hamlin has admitted that he 'can't imagine' resuming his racing career after his playoff heartbreak at Phoenix, while acknowledging that he may feel differently with time.
The 60-time Cup Series winner looked for all the world to have his first title wrapped up with just three miles left of the 2025 season when title rival William Byron blew a tire and hit the wall, bringing out a caution.
That caution brought Kyle Larson back into contention at the restart and, having chosen to take just two tires to Hamlin's four during the caution, the driver of the No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports took a dramatic win.
Hamlin, who revealed before the event that he was racing for his terminally ill father, looked stunned when he stepped out of his car at the end of the race, and admitted this week that he's still only beginning to process the heartbreak.
Hamlin: Fan reactions gets into my feelings
Speaking ahead of NASCAR's awards ceremony, Hamlin admitted: "In the moment, I can’t imagine having to go through the process I went through to prepare for that race, doing it all over again. I just don’t see any way.”
He did concede that he's likely to go into 2026 as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver, with two years left on a contract which runs to the end of 2027, but said he's in no mental shape to consider his future yet.
“I plan to – I have a contract to. But at this point, there’s absolutely no way that I will even… I don’t even think about the race car right now. I’m going to need some time on this one.”
Hamlin also admitted that he had taken a brief look at the commiserations from fans on social media, saying: “I’ve looked at it and obviously, it’s more pain. I look at it for a little bit and I just stop, because it does get into my feelings a little bit. But I love our fan base. They certainly have been very, very supportive of me over the last few weeks.”
