Denny Hamlin did what he had to do in order to secure a win in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Pocono Raceway. He was out to make up for his win that was taken away last year. He was also out to score some milestone numbers too.

After his victory in Kansas, he knew that up next would be No. 50. That’s a big one for him. Then, with Martin Truex Jr’s win in Monday’s rain delayed Crayon 301 in Loudon, it means Toyota had 599 wins to their credit too.

The stars aligned.

In controversial fashion, Hamlin got by Kyle Larson for the lead late and held on to win for the record setting 7th time at the Tricky Triangle.

“I knew every weekend I go into it thinking, Man, this would be the perfect weekend for it, because there’s always the right time to win,” said Hamlin.

“I mean, there’s just little things. My old car chief, Spider, that works at Joe Gibbs Racing, found in his old toolbox my grandmother’s St. Christopher. I get in my car for practice, and it’s sitting on my dash. I’m like, I hadn’t seen that thing, I thought it was lost. My mom would put that in there before the race on the dash. I sat down and said, Well, we’re winning this weekend.

“Those things don’t happen on accident, like… Just really happy to win it for the team, the whole team. Chris and his team on the pit box. The guys in the war room, the guys in the fab shop. I’ve been really lucky to be part of an organization that carried me for many years to many, many victories, like a lot.”

This was the spot for win No. 1 in his rookie season back in in 2006 and now he joins some elite company with 50 trips to victory lane in NASCAR’s premiere series. He joins Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105), Jeff Gordon (93), Bobby Allison (84), Darrell Waltrip (84), Cale Yarborough (83), Jimmie Johnson (83), Dale Earnhardt (76), Kyle Busch (63), Kevin Harvick (60), Rusty Wallace (55), Lee Petty (54), Junior Johnson (50) and Ned Jarrett (50) with that many wins.

It was also his 69th career NASCAR win in general as he also has 17 Xfinity Series triumphs and 2 in the Truck Series, passing Matt Kenseth for 14th all-time.

 “I mean, stuff like this doesn’t sit in for a while,” said Hamlin. “Actually exchanged texts with Kenseth over the week. We were just reminiscing about old races. I told him, I was like, I was definitely filling him up about how great he was. He was a great teammate. The wins that he had. He was so underrated. I told him, I was like, That’s one thing that we’re always guilty of, is not appreciating it in the moment.

“When you retire and you got a bunch of time, you’re sitting there on your rocker on your back porch, you’re thinking about, What have I accomplished, right, in the sport?

“These things take a long time to sit in. They really do. We’re in the heat of the moment now. I mean, I’m answering questions about whether what I did was fair or not. Gimme a break.

“It takes time. I never thought I’d get an opportunity in the Cup Series. Luckily J.D. Gibbs took a chance and Joe Gibbs took a chance on me nearly 20 years ago. To get my 50th win, it comes down to the track that I got my first, it certainly is special.

“Not everyone gets the opportunity to go from racing late models to racing for Joe Gibbs Racing in 18 months in the Cup Series. It’s hard to do, it really is. But luckily they believed in me, gave me time to get going, and the rest is history.”

Hamlin was found by Joe Gibbs son, JD. With persistence, JD made sure Hamlin had a future with JGR on the Cup level. He took that all the way up to his dad, Joe Gibbs.

“I think all the way back to when Denny first came onboard,” Gibbs said on Sunday on Hamlin’s 50th career win. “I remember that. J.D. found him. He was racing lot models. Came down. Everything from the test to racing a truck, we put him at Darlington in an Xfinity car, everything he got in he just took right off.

“J.D. said, I think we need to sign this guy.

“I said, I think you’re right.”

Hamlin came to JGR while their Cup program was reeling. After years of good finishes, they found a rough patch. Hamlin was doing well in the Xfinity car so they felt, even though it was early, why not?

“The story is we went through one half of a year with Denny racing Xfinity. We were struggling with our Cup car. We put him in there, and we’re going on 18 years,” Gibbs continued. “So it’s been a great deal for us, great deal for Joe Gibbs Racing to have Denny there for that period of time. The way he’s taken care of FedEx and everything, we just really appreciate him and the way he deals with this. He’s a real pro.”

Gibbs has seen Hamlin grow up and mature over the years which is why he’s not surprised to see the Virginia native thrive in the sport as a veteran both on the track and off of it for the team.

“I think Denny is really patient. I see him, and he’s a vet,” he says. “He understands it. I think he understands how to win. He’s certainly been a great representative for us.

“The other thing I’ve always admired about Denny, he has been so loyal to us, our family. We had a picture there taken in the winner’s circle where J.D. used to come up behind Denny and squeeze him. Denny had me come up there and do that. I just appreciate Denny in every way. Our family, he means a lot to us. We really appreciate him, appreciate our friendship.”

The win was also Toyota’s 600th and Hamlin is honored for it to occur with him delivering it.

“It’s special, for sure,” he said. “I remember, getting I think their 100th Cup victory at Loudon, New Hampshire, a long, long time ago.

“Milestones are always big. To have 600 wins across the three series, I mean, it’s unmatched. What they do to invest in this sport from the grassroots to the Cup Series is unmatched. You can see it at your local dirt track. You can see it at your weekly racing series. They are all in on NASCAR.

“To be part of that type of organization and that type of manufacturer certainly means a lot from my standpoint. I was nervous in 2008 when we switched over, right? We had a lot of success before that.

“The Joe Gibbs Racing team thought that this was the best move for them. Obviously they made the right decision because there’s no other manufacturer that performs on a per-car basis like they do.”