CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Every NASCAR fan has seen aging drivers stay in the seat far past their prime.
It wasn’t pretty sometimes as the drivers struggled to qualify for races, found themselves struggling to stay on the lead lap, and more often than not their finish didn’t reflect the competitiveness they once showed.
Denny Hamlin doesn’t want to be that guy.
He’s 45, the oldest full-time active driver in the Cup Series, and is in the first year of a two-year contract that he says will be his last at NASCAR’s top level.
But he can’t stop winning — Sunday’s victory at Pocono Raceway was his fourth of the season, not including the non-points All-Star race, and third in a row — and with it comes questions Hamlin must answer about his future as a race car driver.