INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Denny Hamlin never wanted to drive for a team other than Joe Gibbs Racing.
A two-year contract extension may seal the deal.
On Friday, five days after winning his 58th Cup race, the 44-year-old Hamlin signed what he said would likely be his final contract extension. JGR officials only said the deal was for “multiple” years, though Hamlin noted he didn't want anything longer than two years.
“Two years is what I was comfortable with," he said. "I wanted to make sure I gave them the proper time and make sure I commit to them for not one year but multiple years, to let them try to continue to build the program. I want to make sure I'm still at my peak form in my final year.”
There's no indication Hamlin is slowing down.
He owns a series best four wins this season and has the top points total, 663, outside the Hendrick Motorsports stable. Only Chase Elliott, William Byron and Kyle Larson enter the weekend with more points.
A win in Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway would allow Hamlin to complete a career sweep of NASCAR's crown jewel races. He's already won three Daytona 500s, three Southern 500s and one Coca-Cola 600.
“Adding another crown jewel would be big and then to have swept them all," said Hamlin, who will make his 17th career Indy start. “I mean certainly the names are very, very prestigious on that list, so it would certainly mean a lot to me. It would be just another feather in the cap.”
Hamlin has done just about everything else since his first race in 2005 — except win a series title.
With 706 career starts, all with JGR, he's the longest tenured driver in team history even though he missed one race this year after the birth of his first son and third child. He ranks 11th on the Cup's career victory list. He also owns 244 top-five finishes, 369 top-10s and has won the pole 44 times.
He and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan even co-own NASCAR’s 23XI Racing team, which fields cars for Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst and Tyler Reddick. Hamlin's team and Front Row Motorsports are locked in a legal battle over antitrust allegations against NASCAR.
“He's very, very high racing IQ,” Reddick said, describing Hamlin. “I feel like the last couple of years he's done more sharing of that with everybody, with the platforms he uses. For me, he's really helped me understand short track racing. I feel like between him (Hamlin) and Bubba, they helped me better understand what to look for in my car.”
And yet, Hamlin also acknowledged he's not really ready to retire yet and he might not be in two years, either.
Instead, he wants to see how it feels to be out of the driver's seat, knowing comebacks in this sport happen routinely. Should he have second thoughts, he might even return to JGR.
“I really appreciate Denny and everything he has meant to our organization,” Gibbs said in a statement. “It is just really special when you think about everything we’ve experienced over the past 20 years, from that first moment when J.D. (Gibbs) recognized his talent at a test session, until now. It is remarkable in any sport to compete at the level Denny has for this long and we are thrilled he has been able to spend his entire career with us.”
But Hamlin's decision also came down to more than sentiment.
“I'd kind of like to see where I'm at two years from now, where the team's at, what's their Plan B, where they are with that and then just how competitive I am, how good do I feel how much and how bad do I want it,” Hamlin said. “All those things are big, big, big factors in it. But I just want the ability to know I can win my last race. That's the deciding factor.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Denny Hamlin celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Dover Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Christopher Bell (20) spins behind leader Denny Hamlin (11) during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Dover Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Denny Hamlin crosses the finish line to win a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Dover Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland to help boost the Arctic island's security after talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. on Wednesday highlighted “fundamental disagreement” between the Trump administration and European allies.
“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 French soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.
Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, its Defense Ministry said.
Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland, with NATO allies joining them, just as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers met with White House representatives on Wednesday in Washington to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's intentions to take over the island in order to tap its mineral resources and protect the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.
On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”
“We really need it,” Trump told media in the Oval Office after the meeting. “If we don't go in, Russia is going to go in and China is going to go in. And there's not a thing Denmark can do about it, but we can do everything about it."
Trump said he had not yet been briefed about the contents of the White House meeting when he made his remarks.
In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.
Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.
Maya Martinsen, 21, agreed and said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.
The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”
On Wednesday, Poulsen had announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.
Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities.
However, NATO is looking at how members can collectively bolster the alliance’s presence in the Arctic, according to a NATO official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Rasmussen, the Danish foreign minister, announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.
Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”
Line McGee, a 38-year old from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. "But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”
Speaking to FOX News Channel’s Special Report on Wednesday after the White House talks, Rasmussen rejected both a military takeover and the potential purchase of the island by the U.S. Asked whether he thinks the U.S. will invade, he replied: “No, at least I do not hope so, because, I mean, that would be the end of NATO.”
Rasmussen said Greenlanders were unlikely to vote for U.S. rule even if financial incentives were offered “because I think there’s no way that U.S. will pay for a Scandinavian welfare system in Greenland, honestly speaking.”
“You haven’t introduced a Scandinavian welfare system in your own country,” he added.
Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out."
Niemann reported from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland.
Fishermen load fishing lines into a boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Senate Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
