Denny Hamlin may have won the All-Star race in Dover and walked away with the $1 million cheque, but the race didn’t count for points and ended up with Hamlin learning something crucial for the season ahead. 

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is currently second in the standings while fighting for an elusive Cup Series title. He has led the most laps this season, but he still has one aspect of Cup Racing to master: race restarts.

At Dover, Hamlin was the lead car at the end of the sixth caution period and won out only once. Breaking it all down on his podcast, Hamlin said, "That’s why we didn’t win Texas… I really gotta dig into it. It is the only gaping hole of our game right now."

Hamlin said that while all the other aspects of his game were great, restarting was the one thing that clearly wasn’t. And with the number of races he has lost after a late caution, it is something he needs to work on.

Asked if he knew what was going wrong, Hamlin said, “If I knew then I wouldn’t have lost the lead three times. But I’m going to work, I’m going to investigate it with certainty, and I will do my best to get better."

This season, Toyota has had great long-run pace and tire mileage. Denny Hamlin explained that it is difficult to have a car that is equally good on restarts as well as long runs. 

"You can’t have both. It’s very difficult to have the fastest car for one lap on a restart and have the fastest car in the long run. That is almost impossible to achieve. Not impossible, but it’s almost very difficult," Hamlin added.

Is the 2026 Season Hamlin's Best Shot at the Title?

Denny Hamlin has been one of the most consistent drivers this season. After 12 points-paying races, he's second in the Cup standings, 129 points behind Tyler Reddick. But he has also led the most laps this season with a mammoth 624 laps. Kyle Larson is closest to him with 499 laps led.

With only 13 races on the regular season calendar remaining, Hamlin already knows that road courses aren’t circuits where he will pick up wins or points. And for his bid to be a champion, it is a relief that there are no road courses in the Chase this time. 

The Charlotte Roval was dropped from the Playoffs, so it will not be a part of the Chase, meaning all 10 races to the title fight will be ovals. Recently, NASCAR announced that Watkins Glen will be moved into the Chase calendar in 2027.

Hamlin has long hinted that 2027 could be his last year as a full-time driver in the Cup Series. With Watkins Glen in the Chase, getting that championship crown next season might be even more difficult. 

Denny Hamlin knows that 2026 is his best shot at the crown he has long aspired to capture, and that is exactly why, despite winning the $1 million cash prize at Dover, he left a tad disappointed because it wasn't a points race. He would have picked up massive stage and final points if it were. 

Which is why post-race, he said, "That’s my career, all the wins that really matter don't count."

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Yask Kotak