What If Denny Hamlin Left Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005?

This week on his new podcast Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin was asked by a fan if he had ever been offered rides elsewhere.

There were two offers, both before he was a NASCAR Cup Series star. Had Hamlin taken either of them, a huge chunk of NASCAR history would’ve been drastically different.

This season marks the 20th Hamlin has been under contract with Joe Gibbs Racing, first signing a developmental deal with the team back in 2004. That deal featured a handful of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts and a top 10 in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut.

The following year, Hamlin took over JGR’s No. 20 in NXS, and honestly, he didn’t do a whole lot in that car. He posted one top five and 11 top 10s, finishing a distant fifth in points behind Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Reed Sorenson, who all moved up to Cup in 2006 with him.

Obviously, Hamlin ended up replacing Jason Leffler in the No. 11 JGR Cup car late in the 2005 season, and that’s when he showed star talent, posting three top 10s and a pole. Hamlin’s been in that car ever since. But he received two Cup offers before JGR put him in Cup that seemed oddly timed and would’ve negatively impacted Hamlin’s career, among a great many other things, had he accepted them.

No. 15, Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

Despite somewhat lackluster results, Hamlin revealed that early on in that 2005 season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. approached him about driving the No. 15 at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., replacing Michael Waltrip. That timeline makes sense, as Waltrip did leave DEI at the end of that season.

But the No. 15 didn’t run full time in 2006, as NAPA Auto Parts left with Waltrip. Instead DEI’s No. 1 car became a full-time entry again with Truex driving. Paul Menard ended up racing the No. 15 on a part-time basis that year while competing full time in Xfinity.

Menard came with sponsorship from Menards. But Hamlin came with no money. So had he accepted that ride, would the team have been able to find sponsorship to compete? Would Hamlin have ever actually seen the racetrack in the No. 15? He probably would’ve ended up splitting a DEI ride with Mark Martin instead of Aric Almirola and Regan Smith .

Even if DEI put Hamlin in the No. 15 full time, that team went downhill fast right around that time. It won two races over the next three seasons before merging with Chip Ganassi Racing. So Hamlin’s numbers would’ve looked a lot like Truex’s early in his career….