Denny Hamlin makes NASCAR retirement reveal ahead of Iowa

Joe Gibbs Racing star Denny Hamlin has revealed he could delay his retirement from NASCAR, but only if a major change is made.

Hamlin is currently 44 years old and is set to turn 45 in November, but his age has not stopped him from being one of the quickest drivers on the track this year, with four victories under his belt so far.

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So much so that recently, Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing reached an agreement over a new contract extension that is set to see Hamlin continue as the driver of the No. 11 until at least the end of 2027.

After signing the new deal, Hamlin admitted that it would likely be his last before retiring. However, speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast following last weekend's race at Indianapolis and ahead of this weekend's action at Iowa, Hamlin has outlined a scenario where he could 'go longer'.

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Hamlin: I'll delay retirement if NASCAR change playoffs

It turns out it all revolves around the way the NASCAR Cup Series championship is decided, with Hamlin suggesting he could race for more years if the series ditches a one-race championship decider.

"There’s a lot of different formats that are better than what we have now,” Hamlin said of the Cup Series.

“Can you just take, as a band-aid, the current setup and just up all the bonus points," he continued, floating ideas.

Adamantly, the Joe Gibbs Racing star continued: “It’s not [the right solution], but these guys are now behind the schedule again.

"We were supposed to have some sort of change this year. We didn't. And as a person that now only has a couple of years left, I told Jeff Gluck [The Athletic journalist] after I was like, ‘If they get a legit format down, I might go longer’ because I feel like my chances would be better on a more typical sample size.

"The one race, I don’t know. My chances are 25 percent. If you go to 36 races, I think my chances are better than that.”

There is plenty of debate within the NASCAR community right now regarding how the playoffs should look, or indeed if they should even exist at all.

Hamlin has called for the addition of a championship round in recent weeks, for example, whilst others such as Chase Elliott have called for a return to a full-points season format and the playoffs to be scrapped.

NASCAR confirmed ahead of 2025 that they were set to consider changes to the playoffs for 2026, but as yet, no confirmation of any tweaks or differences have been announced.

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