Toyota NSCS Daytona Notes & Quotes – Denny Hamlin

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Denny Hamlin — Notes & Quotes
Daytona International Speedway – February 20, 2013

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How is your Camry handling in Daytona?
“Really well.  We honestly were very optimistic about our chances to win the Unlimited and of course that was cut short with the first wreck that we were in.  All Speedweeks, I’ve been very happy with our speed — everything about it.  It seems like the stars could be lining up obviously for a great Daytona 500.  My expectation is to go to the 150s and do everything I can to win and hopefully get us a good starting spot and obviously a great position for a 500 win.  It is circumstantial, just like everything else.  It’s a restrictor plate race, but it’s more strategic now than it’s ever been since I’ve been in the sport. Other than 2006, my rookie year, the cars are driving very, very similar to that in the sense of how you need to work the draft.  It’s good to see that the pack racing is back and there’s no more two-car tandem.  It’s definitely going to be a skilled driver’s Daytona 500 to win.”

Why is last lap contact not acceptable in NASCAR?
“Because they have a black flag and that’s what the black flag is for.  When they started our sport, they had a black flag and it got used when it needed to get used.  Ever since I grew up racing in go-karts, it got used when you did something blatant and inappropriate.  I think that drivers are more apt to do things like that nowadays, like when they don’t run in the series — there is no payback to be had because it’s just a one-off race and he knows he don’t have to answer to that guy the next week.  That’s why you don’t see it in the Cup Series and on down with the guys that run regular because they know that if they take some guy out, he’s going to get it right back the next week and next thing you know, you wasted a whole weekend.  That’s some of the reason why it happens, but really just watching the race, guys were running over each other so much that eventually you want to see longer than a one-and-a-half lap run and in order to do that, you have to calm the drivers down.”

Should drivers be black-flagged on the final lap if contact is made going for the win?
“If it’s blatant.  Some things are blatant and others are not.  We aren’t talking about the bump-and-runs in the other races because they weren’t as blatant.  I don’t think that there was any judgment call in the Late Model race — it was black and white and it was on the black side.  I think that NASCAR makes judgment calls all the time when it comes to maybe blending on the race track or what have you.  They can make a judgment call on something like that, which I don’t even know if it’s part of NASCAR’s deal.  Whoever the series is officiated by needs to set a precedence for sure.  I just don’t think the younger guys coming up need to come with that mentality that it’s just okay to plow into someone and wreck them.  This isn’t a demolition derby.”

Would you draft with Danica Patrick?
“I would use her (Danica Patrick) just like I would use any other driver honestly.  We’re not out there drafting with each other because we like each other.  It’s because we’re using each other to get where want to go.  I think any driver would — I don’t know.  I’m going to say use her to get a position that he wanted to get to.  The only reason people won’t draft with you is if you’re erratic behind the wheel.  If you can’t hold a steady lane, if you’re very erratic with letting out of the throttle or using the brakes or something — that’s what sets  the red flag off that, ‘Okay, let’s go up to the next guy.’  And, really, most every driver when two cars are side-by-side and you see the third car choose one person or the other, it’s because they trust that person more than the other.  So, you can prove yourself very easily by just holding a steady wheel.”

What is the difference in side drafting with the old car versus the new car?
“I haven’t seen it be that big of a difference.  I think the biggest thing is that these cars just have less downforce in the rear, which is going to make for the back of the cars not sticking as well.  So, the side draft seems bigger because the overall downforce in the rear is less.  I think that passing is so hard with this short spoiler — which is good, don’t change that — is that people are using every inch of the side draft now.  Before the old generation five car punched such a huge hole in the air, I mean, Ray Charles could see the pocket of air that formed from that car.  I think that this car, you really have to be in the slip stream and be strategic with finding that air that everyone is using every inch of the side draft and it’s making the inside car be less stable because of it.”

Is the placement of the mirrors on the new car causing some of these wrecks?
“The biggest thing that I’ve seen is the sides of the cars, the back quarter panels are obviously flared out more.  So, what we’ve had to do is move our mirrors accordingly to see more of the left side or right side.  And, by doing that it changes your depth perception of the inside car whether he’s there or not.  So, really, I think it’s all a learning process and really none of the wrecks in SpeedWeeks so far have been the cars fault.  It’s just really the guys behind the wheel — me included — that are just learning.  And it just takes time to get it right.  That’s why we can’t go and practice without wrecking.”