Denny Hamlin reveals brutal reality of being a NASCAR driver

Joe Gibbs Racing star Denny Hamlin has opened up on the brutal reality of being a NASCAR driver.

Hamlin, who turns 45 years old in November, has had a fine career at the very top of the sport, registering 58 Cup Series victories, four of which have come in 2025.

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Those victories make him one of the most successful drivers of all time, ranking 11th on the Cup Series all-time wins list at present and only two wins outside the top 10.

However, when discussing Bubba Wallace's recent win at the Brickyard, Hamlin has reiterated the brutal fact that NASCAR is a losing business, even for the most successful stars.

“His valleys weren’t as low,” Hamlin said on Wallace. “I think it seemed like on the bad days, he was able to compartmentalize that and then think about the positives versus ‘everything sucks all the time.’ That’s a tough way to live.

"We’re in a business where if you can win 5% of the time, you’re a Hall of Famer. You’re going to lose.

"This is a losing business, and you have to find happiness in some other way other than actually winning."

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Hamlin reveals best NASCAR advice he's been given

Hamlin continued, explaining that it was one of his former crew chiefs who gave him the best advice of his career relating to the matter.

"Mike Ford told me that early in my career," he continued. "And that was the best advice I’ve ever been given.

"It’s something that certainly needed to be told to Bubba that you’ve got to find these little goals that you feel good about because it’s tough out there.”

The reality of Hamlin's words really hits home when you look at the statistics for his career.

To date, the Joe Gibbs Racing star has completed 706 races, with 58 victories in those. That means that Hamlin has only been victorious in 8.21% of his Cup Series outings.

Now, that rate has made Hamlin remarkably successful in the sport, but it also means that he has not won in 91.79% of the events he has raced in in the Cup Series.

Even when you lower the threshold and look at Hamlin's top 10 finishes (369), he has only finished inside the top 10 on 52.26% of his Cup races, which, again, considering he is one of the most successful drivers the sport has ever seen, just makes it hit home how tough being a NASCAR driver really is.

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