NASCAR News: Denny Hamlin admits ego and paranoia at play in retirement decision

NASCAR star Denny Hamlin has admitted that his ego and paranoia are both at play when it comes to his decision to retire at the end of 2027.

Hamlin has openly discussed 2027 as being his final year in the Cup Series ever since signing his most recent contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing last year, and he hasn't changed his mind on it yet.

That is the case despite continuing to have great success in the sport. Hamlin picked up his second Cup Series win of the season last Sunday at Nashville (third if you want to include the All-Star Race exhibition), and he leads the series in total laps led by quite some distance through the opening 14 races.

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Denny Hamlin explains NASCAR retirement call

With success ongoing, many are questioning Hamlin's decision to call it quits next year, and key figures within his own team at Joe Gibbs Racing have openly admitted they're trying to convince him to change his mind.

However, speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week, the 45-year-old once again reiterated his desire to go out at the top of his game, in part due to ego and being paranoid of losing his speed.

“My goal has always been to be able to win my final race,” Hamlin explained. I'd love to win my last race in the Cup Series.

“That's [an] against-the-odds type of scenario; that's gonna be hard to do, but I at least want to be capable of it and know that I have a chance. I want to feel like I do right now in the sense that knowing every Sunday morning, ‘All right I got a good shot to win today.’

“I have to feel that. My ego will not let me… my ego is very paranoid of the down trend, and it is going to come. We don’t know when it is.

“I just want to get ahead of it before it actually does, and sometimes you have to leave some on the table and say, ‘I’m not running next year. I could, but I’m not going to.’

LeBron James comparison

The conversation then turned to LeBron James, who continues to star in the NBA and put up triple-doubles at the age of 41. Hamlin, though, says it is different due to basketball being more of a team sport.

“The difference is LeBron has teammates,” Hamlin continued. “He's a piece of the puzzle of the team that can win a championship, right?

“I am too, but I'm a bigger piece of the puzzle, and so I feel as though it'd be difficult for me if I knew that I'd lost some of my skill set, to really truly believe that I can go out there and win a championship in a 10-race Chase.

“I think that, you know, I'm just trying to be a little proactive and stay ahead of the curve before I know the curve is coming.”