Denny Hamlin enters the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs without a contract to drive next season, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have job security.

Though Hamlin expressed emphatically his desire to return to No. 11 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing, he does have other options—namely the 23XI Racing team he owns with NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

“I have a race team—I always have options,” Hamlin bantered on Thursday during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center. “If you’re just a driver, you’re at the mercy of whoever will hire you.

“I will hire me. And I should be the highest-paid driver in the deal.”

Hamlin’s 23XI team currently fields cars for Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, both of whom qualified for the Cup Series postseason, which starts Sunday with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

A third car at the organization might be a possibility in 2024 if Hamlin can’t come to terms with JGR.

“If an apocalypse comes, yeah,” Hamlin quipped.

But does it really need to go that far? Joe Gibbs said on Tuesday that the two sides were close and he was hopeful to get a deal done soon. Does Hamlin agree?

“I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire,” he said. “I mean, I don’t have anything new to announce. I’m not trying to leak one way or another, it’s on to Darlington.”

Some may take that as they’re not as close. I mean it’s going into Labor Day and a generational talent like Hamlin doesn’t have a contract done. I though am not looking at it in that manner.

Hamlin has maintained that he 100% intends to return to JGR in his No. 11 Toyota. He said that a few weeks ago in Watkins Glen too. Nothing is changing as far as what he wants to do.

“I intend to for sure,” he said after his pole then. “It’s what I want, and I think it’s what Joe (Gibbs) wants. There’s just a lot of factors that are out of both mine and his hands. Again, if I didn’t own a team, I think this would be done by now, but there’s just a lot of different factors that play into it and whether we can get it done or not. All you hope is that this late in the season that everyone is putting their best foot forward to compromise and come up with the right deal that’s good for everyone.

“I’m not trying to insinuate anything for sure, but I think that I’m happy at Joe Gibbs Racing and Joe (Gibbs) is happy with me. I think that certainly with the Kyle (Busch) situation last year, Kyle’s ask was his ask. And Joe Gibbs needed sufficient funding on the car to do it. From the day one, to give you inside baseball, Joe said I could have zero sponsorship on your car. It doesn’t matter. We want you and this is what we’re going to do. It’s different in that sense. It’s easy to draw parallels because you hear I’m saying some things Kyle said and Joe is saying some very similar things, but there’s just more factors in play than just us for sure.”

So what’s the hold up? Gibbs wants Hamlin back. Hamlin wants to be back. It’s all down to shoring up negotiations on the 23XI Racing side. Which is why Hamlin is focusing at the moment on the first order of business – the Playoffs.

Hamlin has been tantalizingly close to the title on several occasions. In 2010, under what was then the 10-race Chase format, he led the standings entering the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway but lost out to Jimmie Johnson’s record fifth straight Cup title.

Since the introduction of the elimination Playoff format in 2014, Hamlin has qualified for the Championship 4 Round four times, with a best finish of third in 2014 and 2021.

“I should have won in 2010,” Hamlin said. “I (screwed) that up pretty bad. Certainly, Jimmie got in my head there, and I just second-guessed what had made me successful the whole time.”

In 2021, Hamlin was chasing JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. for the lead late in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix.

“And the caution came out,” Hamlin recalled. “And (Kyle) Larson went from fourth to first on the pit stop. “I would say that, in 2019, when we put the piece of tape on the car, I was running Kyle Busch down at the end.

“I was a couple seconds back from him—it was Homestead—but I hadn’t even pushed yet. I was just waiting, waiting, waiting… and then all of a sudden we put the tape on the car, and we blow up.

“There’s like a five-way tie (for closest call to the title).”

How does one define greatness anymore? It’s a touchy subject. Some say nothing else matters other than championship rings. Others say you shouldn’t discount regular season success. So where’s the line that separates the good from the great and the elite from the legendary status?

That’s relevant because it’s a topic that surrounds Hamlin right now. I don’t think there’s any reason of doubt to say that Hamlin is a for sure First Ballot Hall of Famer in this sport. 50 Cup Series wins and 40 Cup poles in an era that’s growing more and more increasingly difficult to win, he’s still winning in bunches.

He’s won almost all the crown jewels now. He’s a 3-time Daytona 500 champion, as well as reaching victory lane 3 times in the Southern 500. He’s also won the Bristol Night race twice, the All-Star race once and now this season the Coca-Cola 600. The only thing missing is an Indianapolis win and a championship.

Is this his year?

Hamlin makes his 17th career playoff appearance. Just he, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick have done so. Nobody else has more. His 12 playoff wins rank 3rd best. Just Jimmie Johnson’s 29 trips to victory lane during the postseason and Harvick’s 16 rank higher.

Now though, can he march back to the Championship 4 at Phoenix. He has 4 of them already, which is 4th best. The only ones ahead of him each have 5 (Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick).

Another trip put him with them so long as they don’t make the final round too this November. However, among those 4 previous trips, he’s not taken home the championship in each. Is this his year to do so?

He’s made 3 Championship 4’s in the last four years. Last year he entered with the least amount of playoff points heading into the playoffs than the other 3 previously and he missed the final round by 1 measly point.

This year, he is the second seed and the second-place driver in playoff points made the final round in 4 of the 6 years too and all but one has at least made it to the Round of 8.

Is this Hamlin’s chance?

amlin has seen it all.

What has he learned from the previous 3 that he can carry with him to a triumph in November? Is there anything he looks back on as to what he could do differently?

Still, would another march to the final round and leaving Phoenix with some new hardware leave another bad taste in his mouth or should Championship 4’s now be the new gold standard?

I mean think about it. A Championship 4 appearance is about your entire season. The grind that it takes to be in the playoffs and the mental toughness that it takes to last 9 rounds of the playoffs.

A Final 4 is a championship in and of it’s own. A championship is a different standard because it’s only about 1 race and a winner take all scenario among the 4 drivers fighting for the championship that season. The previous 35 races no longer matter. You can’t take the points with you.

So does he hang his hat on the fact that he’s gotten to this many over the years?

Still, the march to this year’s playoffs varied differently than last. In 2021, he had 8 top 5 finishes in the first 9 races run. He was consistent and had fast race cars. He just wasn’t winning.

Last year, he couldn’t get a top 5 for a long while. His win in the 7th race of the season at Richmond was his first top 10 result all year and his only one through Mothers Day weekend.

That’s where his season turned. He had 5 top 5’s after including another win in the Coke 600. He thought he had won at Pocono before that win was taken away. His No. 11 Toyota started to peak and now he comes into the playoffs hoping for a near repeat of the last three with only one exception – a championship.

This year, he’s been more consistent.

Hamlin enters this year’s postseason with 4 top 3 finishes in the last six weeks.