<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1L4RoF_0vlPYBJZ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1L4RoF_0vlPYBJZ00" width="640" height="426" ><figcaption>(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)</figcaption></figure>If a FedEx exodus from the NASCAR Cup Series is imminent, could it lead to Denny Hamlin leaving Joe Gibbs Racing as well?On Sept. 24, the Sports Business Journal reported that the longtime sponsor of the JGR No. 11 could either reduce its sponsorship further or leave NASCAR altogether following the 2024 season. It’s no secret that FedEx has already greatly reduced its presence as Hamlin’s sponsor. It went from being a full-season sponsor to just doing 12 races last year. After 29 of the 36 points-paying Cup races this year, FedEx has only been the primary sponsor nine times. However, FedEx will be on the hood this upcoming weekend at Kansas Speedway and could do a few more races before the season concludes.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">.<a href="https://twitter.com/FedEx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">@FedEx</a> is expected to continue reducing its sponsorship presence with <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeGibbsRacing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">@JoeGibbsRacing</a> after this season and could conclude the longtime deal altogether, per sources, a move that would end one of the more winning driver-sponsor combos in <a href="https://twitter.com/NASCAR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">@NASCAR</a> history. <a href="https://t.co/e2mOqtJCVA" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">https://t.co/e2mOqtJCVA</a>— Adam Stern (@A_S12) <a href="https://twitter.com/A_S12/status/1838730278811947277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">September 25, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>Still, it seems like the shipping company is on its way out. Which, hey, kudos to FedEx for sticking around a decade longer than its competitor UPS. But if 2024 is indeed the last ride for FedEx, that could mean Hamlin won’t be in the JGR No. 11 for much longer.OK, before anyone takes off running with this theory, let me make one thing super clear: Hamlin will be with Gibbs in 2025. He is under contract, and it’s way too late in the year for both Hamlin and JGR to make a change for next season and have to start from scratch.NASCAR contracts are super vague these days, but Hamlin signed a multiyear contract extension in September 2023. That means 2024 is year one of that deal and 2025 would be year two, making it multiple years. Whether he is locked in with the team for 2026 or has an option for that year is unknown, but with the great relationship Hamlin has with Joe Gibbs and his loyalty toward his longtime owner, I doubt he would ever break a contract with the team.Of course, Hamlin could retire following the 2025 or 2026 seasons. After all, he’ll turn 46 years old following ’26. But if the future NASCAR Hall of Famer does get to the end of that contract and wants to keep racing, it’s very possible he could drive something other than a JGR No. 11 for the first time in his career. So how does FedEx’s potential departure impact that? For one, Hamlin has said on numerous occasions that he wanted to spend his whole career with one number, one sponsor and one team. FedEx leaving would wipe out one of those variables.More importantly, few ever thought Kyle Busch would leave JGR, but that successful pairing ended after longtime sponsor M&amp;Ms departed. Like Busch and like Matt Kenseth before that, keeping Hamlin would cost JGR more money than signing a rookie or less-established driver would. Busch and Kenseth wouldn’t take the pay cut to stay at Gibbs. Should Hamlin be presented with the same scenario, would he take a reduced salary?If Hamlin were to leave JGR, where would he go? That’s the easiest question to answer of the whole situation: his own team, 23XI Racing. There exists a dichotomy of how Hamlin wants to end his career. He said as much when he was a guest on Kevin Harvick‘s Happy Hour podcast in March.“There’s a few hesitations I have,” Hamlin said. “One is that I want to end my career with Joe Gibbs Racing, because I want to be loyal to the person that gave me my start. “But yes, there is a part of me that wants to drive for 23XI, absolutely. I think, without doubt, I’ll say that I’ll certainly be racing at 23XI in at least a race at some point in my career.”So essentially, if everything went the way Hamlin wants it to, he would drive however many more years he wants to at JGR before retiring from full-time competition and doing some one-offs for 23XI — a la what Martin Truex Jr. is probably doing. The problem is things hardly ever end when and how an athlete wants them to, no matter how great they were. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Derek Jeter are the exceptions to that in recent years. There are way more examples of greats across sports who ended their careers before they wanted them to (Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle) or concluded them with a team other than those with whom they had their most success (Kenseth, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Mark Martin).JGR has zero precedent of drivers spending their full careers there. The three drivers to win championships for the organization — Busch, Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte — all left at some point. Granted, Hamlin seems to have a much closer relationship to Gibbs than those three.My theory of what will happen: When Hamlin’s current deal expires, he will either be offered a pay cut (unless JGR can piece together enough to replace FedEx money), or it will be suggested to him that he retire. When that moment arrives, there are three possible outcomes:<ol><li>Hamlin accepts a pay cut and stays loyal to Gibbs.</li><li>Hamlin retires from full-time competition and begins racing part time for 23XI.</li><li>Hamlin feels like he’s still got something left in the tank and goes full time to 23XI.</li></ol>The major variables to Hamlin’s decision are what exactly JGR offers him and how competitive he still is. If Hamlin’s not winning and missing the playoffs, he’ll probably just retire from full-time racing.But if he’s still winning races and competing for championships, he may want to prove he still has something left in the tank. The only way option three plays out is if JGR doesn’t think he has anything left and he thinks he still does. The majority of the situations where a star athlete ended their career with a different team stemmed from the team thinking the player was washed and the player thinking they still had a few more years.As recent as last year, going from JGR to 23XI would be seen as a step down. But now it is very much a lateral move. After all, Tyler Reddick just won the regular-season title and has more wins over the past two years than two of the JGR entries.No one knows for sure how it all will play out after Hamlin’s current deal expires, but I guarantee it will be one of the big Silly Season talking points when that time approaches.For now, just appreciate the last times we see Hamlin in FedEx colors. Once that union is over, it truly will be the end of an era in NASCAR.Sign up for the Frontstretch NewsletterA daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.comWe hate spam. 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Fire on Fridays: Could FedEx Leaving Lead Denny Hamlin to Follow?

If a FedEx exodus from the NASCAR Cup Series is imminent, could it lead to Denny Hamlin leaving Joe Gibbs Racing as well?. On Sept. 24, the Sports Business Journal reported that the longtime sponsor of the JGR No. 11 could either reduce its sponsorship further or leave NASCAR altogether following the 2024 season.

Fire on Fridays: Could FedEx Leaving Lead Denny Hamlin to Follow?

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