“I Think We Need to Sign This Guy”: How Darlington Gave Denny Hamlin the Perfect Shot for Joe Gibbs to Start Legendary Partnership

Since joining the NASCAR Cup Series, Denny Hamlin has shown consistency, finishing outside the top 10 in only three of his last 19 seasons. With 56 NASCAR Cup wins under his belt, including consecutive successes this season at Martinsville and Darlington, Hamlin is just four wins shy of the 60-win milestone. While each victory has its significance, Darlington resonates deeply with him for a couple of more reasons.

First, his recent win coincided with the sport’s 75th anniversary. Second, Joe Gibbs, in a post-race media session, shared a memory from Darlington that marked a turning point in Hamlin’s career. It was here that Gibbs’s son, J.



D., first challenged Hamlin to showcase his potential — a moment that ultimately convinced Gibbs to sign him.He shared, “Everybody loves coming to Darlington.

I go all the way back to Denny when we first got him, our final test for him before we signed him, J.D. who found him, my son, said, Let’s put him at Darlington.

He’d never been here. Let’s put him in an Xfinity car and see what he does. He finished eighth.

J.D. told me, he said, I think we need to sign this guy.

I said, I agree.”Before his first Xfinity race at Darlington in 2004, Hamlin was already competing in five races within the Craftsman Truck Series that same year for the EJP Racing team.He debuted in the Truck Series, securing a P10 place finish at Indianapolis, followed by a P16 place at Richmond Raceway, P11 at New Hampshire, P23 in Las Vegas, and P18 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Impressed by his Truck performances, J.D. Gibbs decided to seat Hamlin in their #18 Chevy Xfinity car.

However, unbeknownst to Hamlin, Gibbs and the team’s sponsor, Rockwell Automation, had a contingency plan in place: if he finished in the top 10, he would secure the ride for the entire 2005 season. That Darlington race marked the beginning of Hamlin’s two-season stint in the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005 and 2006.Interestingly, though Hamlin had already debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas in 2005, he didn’t just dip his toes in; he plunged into a full-time commitment in both the Xfinity and Cup series in 2006.

His drive ultimately paid off, catapulting him to fourth place in the Xfinity standings and a third in the Cup Series, after which he ascended to the Cup Series as a full-time driver.The post “I Think We Need to Sign This Guy”: How Darlington Gave Denny Hamlin the Perfect Shot for Joe Gibbs to Start Legendary Partnership appeared first on The SportsRush..