NASCAR star Denny Hamlin makes 'weird' 45-year-old admission

Denny Hamlin has admitted that he's hit a 'weird' moment in his NASCAR career, just 18 months out from his planned retirement.

The 45-year-old is at the point in a racing career where wins usually start to dry up and pace starts to abandon drivers, but Hamlin looks stronger than ever – getting within just three laps of his first Cup Series championship last year.

The Joe Gibbs Racing star has continued to run well this year too, while younger 'veteran' drivers like Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch appear to have hit the performance wall.

Hamlin, meanwhile, is second on points behind only the fast-starting Tyler Reddick, and admitted after taking All-Star Race victory on Sunday that, 'oddly', he's more confident than at any other point in his career.

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Hamlin: I expect to win every week

Asked in his post-race press conference about that feeling, he admitted: "Oddly enough, yes. I mean, it’s very weird and unique at this point in my career that I’m in this place.

"But, like, if we’re going to a track that turns left, I expect to win every single week. This is just very unique, especially in the era where all the cars are so similar, and I’m racing guys that have all my information, they see my setups, things like that, and still can get it done in the end.

"It’s very gratifying from my standpoint to still be competitive at my age."

Denny Hamlin reiterates retirement plan

Naturally, Hamlin has been asked whether he'll consider extending his career past its current 2027 expiry date, but he insisted on the weekend that he wants to go out on top, even if it means leaving some on the table.

"I mean, I want to finish like this. I do," Hamlin said when asked if he'd consider racing for one more year after 2027.

"I do not want to go through the regression. My ego will not allow me to be mediocre. So, I mean, I’m going to have to leave some on the table at some point, right?

"In order to know that you can win your last race, you’re going to have to go into the next year saying, 'I’m not doing it, but I could have.'"

NASCAR Cup Series standings at the All-Star Break

Pos	Driver	Manufacturer	Points (Stage)	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Tyler Reddick	Toyota	567 (96)	5	8	9
2	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	438 (91)	1	5	7
3	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	422 (61)	2	5	7
4	Ryan Blaney	Ford	405 (95)	1	3	7
5	Chris Buescher	Ford	375 (67)	0	2	6
6	Ty Gibbs	Toyota	372 (74)	1	6	8
7	Carson Hocevar	Chevrolet	342 (53)	1	3	5
8	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	332 (91)	0	3	6
9	Brad Keselowski	Ford	318 (50)	0	2	4
10	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	313 (72)	0	1	6
11	Christopher Bell	Toyota	311 (77)	0	3	4
12	William Byron	Chevrolet	309 (57)	0	2	6
13	Ryan Preece	Ford	296 (43)	0	0	2
14	Daniel Suárez	Chevrolet	295 (31)	0	1	3
15	Austin Cindric	Ford	287 (60)	0	1	4
16	Shane van Gisbergen	Chevrolet	283 (37)	1	2	3
17	Chase Briscoe	Toyota	277 (40)	0	4	5
18	Joey Logano	Ford	245 (63)	0	2	3
19	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	236 (32)	0	1	2
20	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	235 (25)	0	0	2
21	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	225 (20)	0	2	3
22	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	220 (15)	0	0	1
23	Zane Smith	Ford	217 (11)	0	1	3
24	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	217 (22)	0	0	2
25	Erik Jones	Toyota	214 (10)	0	0	2
26	Todd Gilliland	Ford	206 (19)	0	0	1
27	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Chevrolet	193 (19)	0	1	2
28	John H. Nemechek	Toyota	189 (19)	0	0	1
29	Riley Herbst	Toyota	186 (14)	0	0	1
30	Noah Gragson	Ford	168 (4)	0	0	1
31	Josh Berry	Ford	160 (30)	0	0	2
32	Connor Zilisch	Chevrolet	145 (5)	0	0	0
33	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	140 (0)	0	0	0
34	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	127 (11)	0	2	2
35	Cole Custer	Chevrolet	113 (3)	0	0	0
36	Cody Ware	Chevrolet	93 (4)	0	0	0
37	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	9 (3)	0	0	0
38	BJ McLeod	Chevrolet	3 (0)	0	0	0
39	Katherine Legge	Chevrolet	2 (0)	0	0	0