Denny Hamlin on 2026 return to racing: 'I'm gonna need some time on this one'

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Denny Hamlin said Tuesday he planned to return to the NASCAR Cup Series next season, but he needed time to process his defeat in Sunday's championship race and consider his future in the sport before getting back in a car.

"I mean, I plan to," Hamlin said from the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge, site of Tuesday's NASCAR Awards celebration . "I have a contract to, but there's, at this point, there's just absolutely no way that I would even ... I don't even think about the race car right now. Just yeah, I'm gonna need some time on this one."

Hamlin signed a contract extension with his Joe Gibbs Racing team in July, reaching a multiyear deal to remain the driver of the team's No. 11 Toyota through at least 2027. Two days after a stinging loss to newly crowned two-time champion Kyle Larson, though, the anguish still weighed on the 44-year-old veteran.

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He reiterated his post-race comments from Sunday, when he was still in the initial shock of the outcome: "In this moment I never want to race a car ever again." The moment also shared a resemblance with another high-profile retirement from the JGR camp, when Carl Edwards abruptly ended his Cup Series career after his bitter defeat in the 2016 season finale.

The 2026 season begins Feb. 1 with the Cook Out Clash exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium. Asked if he would reach a decision by then, Hamlin replied: "I mean, the good news is the banquet's two weeks earlier this week, so the offseason is a little bit longer, but I'll get over it. Just, it's gonna take a minute."

Hamlin was reflective when asked about Sunday's race, when Larson vaulted ahead of him with a two-tire stop in the final pit cycle and then held on in overtime. Hamlin had led 208 of the 319 laps, including the last long green-flag run before a caution flag for fellow championship contender William Byron's flat tire and crash just three laps from the end of the scheduled distance.

Changing four tires on Hamlin's No. 11 wasn't the same advantage that it was for Corey Heim in Friday's Craftsman Truck Series finale, which also ended in an overtime restart with Heim swooping to his first national-series title. Still, Hamlin said there hadn't been much post-race processing or second-guessing on behalf of his No. 11 team.

"The takeaways from JGR need to be that they did a really good job preparing me a really fast car, and gave me all the tools I needed to succeed," Hamlin said. "So you know, I've been there in other years past where (I've) just not been fast enough or good enough, and this is just a little different."

The defeat was the latest chapter of what's been a volume of heartbreak in Hamlin's 20 fruitless pursuits of the season-long Cup Series crown. Hamlin said none of those championship near-misses compared to Sunday's stunning end. "No way," Hamlin said. "Not close. This one is deep."

It's part of why the heartache was shared so deeply, from Hamlin's family to JGR's team and at-track staff after the checkered flag.

"So you've seen me lose this in so many different ways, right, from the mechanical failures to just crazy things, but I don't know," Hamlin said. "This one just adds to the list. ... Like nothing changed the way I felt about myself at the end of that race, and to use Carl Edwards' quote, like I knew what it was like to be a champion. I felt it. With five (laps) to go, I knew it was over. I don't have the trophy, but I knew that that was probably the first time that I was forced to perform a certain way under this format, and I did it, and there's nothing else I possibly could have done to change the outcome."

Hamlin said he's checked in to see the outpouring of support from fans on social media, at least to a point, before shutting it off. Though he's leaned into goading his grandstand detractors in some of his post-race remarks in recent years, Hamlin said he felt some of the boo-birds shift their tune as his march to the title race grew nearer.

"I mean, I've looked at it, and obviously it's more pain," Hamlin says. "I try to look at it for a little bit and then I just stop, because it just, it does get into my feelings a little bit. But I love our fan base. I mean, I think that they certainly have been very, very supportive of me over the last really few weeks, and my fans for quite some time. But yeah, I'm a bit torn as well because also my friend won the championship, and it's not being talked about that much. But I think that sometimes people have a tipping point, right?"

Even in the throes of Sunday's post-race wake, Hamlin indicated that he made a brief appearance at Larson's post-championship celebration.

"Just to pay my respects," Hamlin said. "I would hope that he would have done that for me. I think he would've. He's been a great friend of mine. I hate for him that kind of the attention is shifted a little bit away from him and his championship, because he's definitely ... there's a difference in deserving and should have been, right? I think that there's not one person that should ever question his deservingness of being a champion. That's what I don't like to see. But I mean, he's a great friend of mine, and if it wasn't me, I was definitely happy for him. I was just trying to do the right thing as a friend, and regardless of my feelings and emotions that evening, it was important for me to go show him support."

Larson said Hamlin's magnanimous gesture resonated with him and the rest of those in attendance.

"It truly meant a lot. It really did," Larson said. "I remember the last time I won a championship, you know, he didn't come out, but he sent me a really nice video message, and it meant a lot to me, and I understood how tough and challenging even that moment probably was for him. So, you know, fast forward to this weekend, a much tougher defeat, and I didn't expect him to go out. He didn't need to, but I'm glad he showed up. I think it showed how big of a person he is, and how strong of a person he is to come out, suck it up and be out there.

"So yeah, we got to talk for a minute, and it was awkward, right? Like really, I was just speechless. I didn't know what to say. I don't think there was anything I could say to try to make him feel any better, and I could see the pain -- all that. But it definitely meant a lot, and I think it meant a lot to everybody in there."