2019 DAYTONA 500 champion Denny Hamlin will look to become only the fourth driver to win consecutive DAYTONA 500s. The last driver to win consecutive DAYTONA 500s was Sterling Marlin in 1994-95.
In 2019, Hamlin, behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, captured his second career victory in “The Great American Race.” The 2019 DAYTONA 500 win was an emotional one for Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 11 team. The organization honored Joe Gibbs’ late son J.D. Gibbs on Lap 11 of the race, as crew members stood on pit wall as a tribute. J.D. Gibbs, who passed away the previous month due to a neurological disease, wore No. 11 as a high school football player and later, as a race car driver himself. Hamlin’s car number: 11.
If Hamlin wins a third DAYTONA 500 (he also won in 2016 – beating Martin Truex Jr. to the line by 0.01 seconds, the closest margin in event history), he would join Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon and Bobby Allison in the exclusive three-time DAYTONA 500 champion club.
(Daytona Speedway PR)
