NASCAR News: Denny Hamlin retirement twist as Joe Gibbs Racing chief makes contract admission

It was inevitable, the talk of Denny Hamlin NOT retiring as a NASCAR driver after 2027 has officially begun.

The 45-year-old great grabbed his third consecutive Cup Series victory at Pocono on Sunday, the 64th of a career which will one day see him enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

Hamlin is driving at the peak of his powers right now as he roars back from that playoff agony in Phoenix last November and the tragic loss of his father Dennis in December.

The Joe Gibbs Racing star is making real inroads at the top of the Cup Series standings - he now only trails early leader Tyler Reddick by 19 points.

Hamlin has always said he wants to retire at the end of the 2027 season, when his current JGR contract runs out. But when he's driving so brilliantly, why would he leave?

The inevitability of that question being asked has become greater as the weeks pass and as Hamlin racks up more wins. Postrace at Pocono is was JGR co-owner Heather Gibbs on the receiving end.

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Heather Gibbs on Hamlin contract situation

She was asked if the team would try to persuade Hamlin to come back in 2028, and responded: "I think for Denny, he wants to leave on top, right? He doesn’t want to leave where it was one year too long.

"At this rate, what he’s producing out there, it’s not something you would not consider. We want the best drivers in our cars.

"Our teams work to put the best cars on track. If it works out and he’s still producing and he wants to, it’s a huge commitment for him, he’s got his own team that he kind of wants to run. It’s hard when you dangle checkered flags in front of him, too."

Hamlin the 'consummate professional'

Gibbs paid tribute to the professionalism and hunger Hamlin has showed to excel yet again after what he went through in the offseason.

"Well, I can tell you with Denny and everything they went through off-season, he’s a consummate professional. I think for many of us that go through a lot of tough times, being at the racetrack is our home. That’s where we find the most peace and want to be back at the track. That’s normal to him. I think he wanted to be back.

"He had records to break. He had something to prove. He’s doing it now. We joked, we were like, You’re a spring chicken, you have so many years left. Now we’re trying to think of how we can keep him longer."

Hamlin, as Gibbs alluded, has other things he can busy himself with after retirement as a driver, notably as co-owner of the 23XI Racing team along with one Michael Jordan. But maybe that can wait just another year or two.