Denny Hamlin Unclaimed Victory: The Mystery of the Milwaukee Mile Trophy

Denny Hamlin Unclaimed Victory: Denny Hamlin, the seasoned 42-year-old NASCAR veteran, is on a quest for a peculiar piece of his racing history: the trophy he technically didn’t win 16 years ago at the Milwaukee Mile. Despite not being officially credited with the victory, Hamlin did, in fact, triumph in the 2007 AT&T 250, a race that concluded with one of the stranger stories in his career.

The tale goes like this: Hamlin, doing double-duty that weekend, was significantly delayed in his arrival at the Milwaukee Mile. He eventually relieved Aric Almirola, who had started the race. Hamlin then roared through the field, ultimately clinching the win. However, due to the starting driver rule, Aric Almirola was officially credited with the victory, even though he didn’t celebrate it.

“I don’t need the trophy, no,” Hamlin said on his podcast, “Actions Detrimental.” “Do I want it? Eh, I wouldn’t mind having one, but it’s like, I get it. I don’t know who has the trophy. As far as I know, Aric says that he doesn’t have it. I don’t have it. I wonder if a crew guy has it.”

The circumstances leading to this victory were as bizarre as the story itself. Hamlin, then in his second full-time season with Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series, was also racing a significant schedule in the Busch Series (now Xfinity Series). Aric Almirola, a development driver for Gibbs, was competing in about half of the races.

“I was in Sonoma on a Cup race weekend, and we were in Milwaukee, which is the home of Rockwell Automation,” Hamlin recalled. “Rockwell Automation was my very first Xfinity sponsor, so it was a home race for them. It meant a lot to them. I’d built a relationship with Rockwell, and they wanted to see me in the car.”

The logistics of doing double duty at separate tracks weren’t uncommon back then, but they could sometimes get tricky. In this case, Hamlin’s journey involved a helicopter from the airport to the track. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, he arrived late and found Aric Almirola leading the race.

“So I went from the airport and was supposed to have a helicopter from the airport to the track,” Hamlin said. “I get in the helicopter, and next you know we’re circling around. I’m like, what’s going on? Why aren’t we landing? I see they’re about to start the race. And he’s like, there’s cars parked on the helipad.”

The temporary helipad at State Fair Park turned out to be more complicated than expected, and the wires were crossed.

“Had to land back at the airport, drive there, and by then we were probably 15 laps into the race, something like that,” Hamlin continued. “Aric runs, and he’s leading the race. He qualified on the pole and led the race.”

But when Aric Almirola started struggling, Hamlin was called in as the substitute driver. He eventually took the lead, securing the win. Although Almirola left the race before it ended and didn’t get the trophy, the whereabouts of the trophy itself remain a mystery.

“If you are the owner of that trophy, I’ll pay you a 500 dollars finder’s fee to return it,” Hamlin said, jokingly acknowledging the missing piece of his racing history. “Just for the story. Because when I’m older and this is all I’ve got is to tell old stories about old races, it’d be a fun show-and-tell.”

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