Hamlin earns 36th win of Cup Series career

KANSAS CITY, Kan — Denny Hamlin picked up his 36th career win in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition Sunday (October 20) in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Hamlin secured his fifth MENCS win of the 2019 season, leading the final 51 laps and holding off Chase Elliott for the victory in NASCAR overtime.

“I love where we are at, no doubt about it,” Hamlin said. “I cannot wait to get to Martinsville.

“This week was just supposed to be a fun week for us, kind of check things out and make sure that we are good once we get down the road as we get to other tracks and I’m pretty happy about where we are at.”

HISTORY
Hamlin ranks 23rd all-time on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins list.

Since the beginning of the season, Hamlin has passed Dale Jarrett (32) and Fireball Roberts (33) on the wins list.

“Once you get to 30, you want to get to 40 and so forth,” Hamlin said to The Racing Experts.

“I can’t believe this success we’ve had. My career has been way beyond anything I ever expected and that’s no joke and that’s because of the people I’m with.

“I’ve been with the same sponsor, same team and most of the success has come with those guys. I’ve got everything I need to go out and win every single week.”

The next five drivers ahead of Hamlin on the all-time wins list are Bobby Isaac (37) Matt Kenseth (39), Tim Flock (39), Mark Martin (40) and Bill Elliott (44).

Hamlin is the fourth-highest active driver on the wins list behind Jimmie Johnson (83), Kyle Busch (55) and Kevin Harvick (49).

UPCOMING
The next Cup Series race will be the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, scheduled for Sunday, October 27.

SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
Toyota Racing