Denny Hamlin has a chance to make history in the NASCAR Cup Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. He has a chance to do something that has never been done before: win three Daytona 500s in a row.
The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is the only active NASCAR driver to have won the Daytona 500 three times, in 2016, 2019, and 2020. So, in the 2021 Daytona 500, Hamlin will be aiming for his third straight victory and fourth overall.
“It would probably be the most significant win of them all,” Hamlin told For The Win this week if he did.
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Hamlin, arguably the best NASCAR driver without a Cup championship, won the Daytona 500 for the first time in 2016 and did so in exciting way. On the final go-around at Daytona International Speedway, Hamlin took the lead and defeated his now-teammate Martin Truex Jr. by just.010 seconds – the closest Daytona 500 finish in history.
While a second Daytona 500 victory is impressive, winning in 2019 was especially memorable for Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing. It happened just weeks after J.D. Gibbs, JGR co-founder and Joe Gibbs’ oldest son, died at the age of 49 from complications related to a degenerative neurological condition, and the team will pay tribute to him throughout the race weekend.
Last season, Hamlin won his second Daytona 500 and third overall after his No. 11 car narrowly avoided the terrifying last-lap collision involving Ryan Newman as the field sped down the 2.5-mile track’s frontstretch.
“2016 is hard to replicate on how I won,” Hamlin said. “But I just feel like they’ve all had a special place — the J.D. win two years ago, the the way the final lap transpired last year to win.”
According to BetMGM, Hamlin is the favorite to win the 2021 Daytona 500 with less than a week until the race.
With three Daytona 500 checkered flags, he’s already in rare company — Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Allison each have three — but a fourth would tie him with Cale Yarborough. He’d still have some catching up to do to catch Richard Petty, who has seven Daytona 500 victories.
“I just hope to give myself that opportunity at the end of the race,” Hamlin said about not being collected in the kind of multi-car wrecks the Daytona 500 is famous for.
“I hope that I’m around, that I give myself a chance to make history because ultimately, that’s what I’m here for. Making history, doing something that no one else has ever done, that’s what motivates me to want to get this one.”
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