Denny Hamlin 2018 season recap

Denny Hamlin may have had the first winless season of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in 2018, but he still earned 10 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes. Look back on highlights from Hamlin's 13th Cup season.

Denny Hamlin began the 2018 season by putting the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the front row for the Daytona 500 alongside pole-sitter Alex Bowman. It was the first front-row start of his career in the Great American Race.

Hamlin finished third in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, marking his sixth top-five result in the first 13 races. Hamlin only recorded two finishes outside the top 14 in that same stretch -- a consistent start to the year.

In August, Hamlin earned two consecutive poles at Watkins Glen and Michigan to assist in his final push into the playoffs. Hamlin turned the stellar qualifying runs into a 13th-place finish at The Glen and an eighth at Michigan.

Hamlin put a special throwback paint scheme on the pole for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway -- a spitting image of the Chesterfield, Virginia native's first mini stock car he drove in 1997 at Langley Speedway and Southside Speedway. A 10th-place finish put him in great position heading into the final race of the regular season.

A third-place finish in the regular-season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway launched Hamlin into the NASCAR Playoffs, punching his ticket on points with seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in 26 races. Hamlin joined teammates Kyle Busch (regular-season champion) and Erik Jones in the postseason.

Despite seven straight finishes inside the top 14 heading into the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 16, a 32nd-place finish in the postseason opener at Las Vegas put Hamlin in a big hole. A 16th at Richmond and 12th at the Charlotte road course weren't enough to overcome the deficit, knocking Hamlin out early.

A championship run over, it still didn't stop Hamlin and the No. 11 team from flexing some muscle. Hamlin finished second to Chase Elliott at Dover, while also taking advantage of the Joey Logano-Martin Truex Jr. run-in at Martinsville to notch another runner-up result.

Hamlin earned his fourth pole of the year for the Monster Energy Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, closing out the season with a 12th-place finish.

Following his pole triumph in Miami, an emotional Hamlin confirmed that it would be his last race with crew chief Mike Wheeler. Paired with "Wheels" atop the box since 2016, Hamlin will team up with Chris Gabehart for the 2019 season, while Wheeler will move to the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing team with driver Matt DiBenedetto.

Hamlin would finish 11th in the final standings, his worst showing since finishing 12th in 2007 (aside from 23rd in 2013 after missing four races due to a back injury). Hamlin will look to rebound in 2019 with new leadership atop the pit box and Martin Truex Jr. joining the Joe Gibbs Racing stable.