NASCAR Cup Series star Denny Hamlin has confirmed he was 'very close' to making a series switch for last weekend's event at Daytona

The 2026 NASCAR season officially kicked off at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, with Truck Series action on Friday, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series racing on Saturday, and the Cup Series' Daytona 500 on Sunday.

It was a thrilling opening weekend with lots of exciting racing, with Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, and Tyler Reddick emerging as winners of the three races.

However, had Hamlin had his way, Hill might have had stiff competition for the victory.

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Denny Hamlin close to O'Reilly Series switch

It turns out that Hamlin could well have been taking part in the race himself, having tried to land a partnership so that he could drive in the event during the off-season.

“The O’Reilly Series, Austin Hill wins that one, dominates it,” Hamlin said, dissecting the race on his Actions Detrimental podcast.

“You know, I was really close to getting an Xfinity…god damn it, O’Reilly [Series drive].”

Hamlin’s producer then interjects, revealing: “The amount of people tweeting at me, get Denny in the Xfinity [O’Reilly] Series.”

Hamlin responded: “They text me in the off-season and said, ‘Are you sure you want to run it?’, ‘Yes’, ‘Okay, we’re working on a sponsor’.

“Two weeks later, nope, sponsor fell through. Can’t get a ride. I can’t get a ride.”

TRUCK SERIES QUALIFYING TODAY: Atlanta start times, schedule, how to watch live on TV and stream

Hamlin: Frustrating watching Hill dominate

Asked if Hill’s dominance on superspeedways in the O’Reilly Series makes him want to make the switch even more, Hamlin continued: “Listen, it’s frustrating watching it on TV.

“But I think it would be more difficult than what we're leading it on to be because I think the competition is facing really some uphill battles.

“For one, they’ve sat on the pole every race. Their cars were the fastest, there’s no disputing that they’ve got less drag, they certainly have more horsepower.

"I’ve heard that the horsepower number that they’ve done from the O’Reilly testing engine dynos, that the RCR is crushing everyone on the superspeedways.

“So it's going to be hard to pass the fastest car with the least amount of drag and then a driver that is really, really good at his craft, and Austin Hill is very, very good at his craft.”

O'REILLY SERIES QUALIFYING TODAY: Atlanta start times, schedule, how to watch live on TV and stream