The thing about racing legends is that they never arrive alone. They don’t simply materialize out of talent and bravado. They’re built—piece by piece—by the people who believed long before the rest of us ever noticed. And if NASCAR has one of its greatest modern drivers in Denny Hamlin, it’s because Dennis Hamlin gave him to the sport.
Not loaned. Not nudged. Gave.
He gave his time. He gave his money. He gave every ounce of belief a man could possibly muster. He mortgaged his home—twice. He sold the cars he loved. He wore the stress, the strain, the sleepless nights, because he refused to be the father who said, “We almost had it.” He wanted to sit in that rocking chair one day knowing he’d turned over every stone, emptied every pocket, and chased every road.
He did all that so the world could one day watch his son become one of the most relentless forces NASCAR has ever seen.
And now, heartbreak has found the Hamlin family in the cruelest possible way. Dennis Hamlin is gone at 75, and Mary Lou continues to fight. The sport has lost someone who wasn’t in the spotlight, but without whom the spotlight would’ve looked very different.
Because those 60 Cup wins? Those Daytona 500 trophies? That career? That legacy? They didn’t start in a gleaming shop with wind tunnels and budgets that sound like phone numbers. They started in a trailer shop bay. They started with busted knuckles and maxed-out faith. They started because Dennis Hamlin refused to let “no” be the final word.
He didn’t give NASCAR a driver. He gave NASCAR a standard.
And Denny never forgot it. Every milestone, every emotional moment this past year—all of it had his dad’s fingerprints on it. When he finally reached that 60-win plateau in Las Vegas, he said what he’d always known: this wasn’t his alone. This was theirs.
Dennis lived long enough to see it. To know his job was done. To know he’d won the biggest race a father can win—the one where your child becomes everything you believed he could be.
Now the rest is up to us.
NASCAR will keep running. The engines will still roar. The grandstands will still shake. And Denny Hamlin—his son, his greatest achievement—will keep fighting and competing with the strength his father built into him. The sport owes Dennis Hamlin more than a passing mention and a sympathetic nod. It owes him gratitude.
So, thank you, Dennis Hamlin. Thank you for the sacrifices no one saw. Thank you for refusing to quit. Thank you for giving NASCAR one of its greatest.
Rest easy now. We have it from here.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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