Denny Hamlin 14th in 600th start
Denny Hamlin’s 14th-place finish in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard marked the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers’ 600th points-awarding start in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Hamlin became the 33rd driver in NASCAR history to race in at least 600 points-awarding cup Series races. His teammate Martin Truex Jr. hit the mark at Gateway in June.
Hamlin made his debut in 2005 for Joe Gibbs Racing, driving all his races in the No. 11 car for the team.
In 600 starts, Hamlin’s credentials include 36 poles, 48 wins, 201 Top-5’s, 310 Top-10’s, over 13,000 laps led, and three Daytona 500 victories.
HISTORY
In the 74-year history of NASCAR’s premier series, no driver has ever won in their 600th start.
The highest a driver has finished in their 600th start is third-place twice. Darrell Waltrip finished third at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March of 1994 and Jeff Gordon finished third at Chicagoland Speedway in July of 2010.
The first driver to make their 600th start was Buck Baker, who finished 16th at Hickory Speedway in April of 1968.
SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.