Denny Hamlin, the only Cup driver to not DNF in 2021 Season

 

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    Being the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to finish the 36-race Season without a DNF, is quite an accomplishment; but veteran driver Denny Hamlin, was able to complete that task during the 2021 season.

The 40 year-old NASCAR Cup Series driver has had an interestingly successful career as of now. He has driven the No. 11 car for Joe Gibbs racing for all of his 578 Cup Series starts. Hamlin has won in every one of his full-time Cup Series seasons since 2006; aside from 2018, where his top finish was two runner-up efforts. 

Hamlin ran win-less in the 2021 Regular Season, but came out victorious in the Playoff opener at Darlington. He would also open up the Round of 12 with a victory at Las Vegas. Without any DNF's during this season, he completed 9,196 of the 9,200 laps of the year. The finishing average for the Toyota driver was excellent, clocking in at an average of 8.4.

Until the Indianapolis Road Course, Denny Hamlin was joined by Austin Dillon, who also hadn't scored a DNF, that was until multiple incidents knocked Dillon’s No. 3 team out of the race. The two multi-car incidents were caused by mischievous curbing that was coming off the racing surface, destroying the front ends of at least 12 cars, including Austin Dillon’s. 

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Consistency of finishing every race brought Hamlin to the Championship 4, alongside drivers who like Kyle Larson who even with 10 victories, still managed to leave two races unfinished. As Hamlin made it to the Championship battle, he would unfortunately finish 3rd of the four contending drivers at Phoenix, falling short of yet another NASCAR Cup Series Championship. 

Only time will tell if Denny Hamlin will ever prevail, and win a NASCAR Cup Series championship, but consistency and winning is the key to the success that he has found in motorsports.

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