Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
RIDGEWAY, Virginia (June 9, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 this Wednesday:
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Have you talked to Michael Jordan at all about things you can do to address racial inequality?
“I haven’t talked him about it. The last time we talked about something like that it was kind of in the (Kyle) Larson situation. We discussed that because he knows Larson, he was friends with Larson as well, and basically, gave his forgiveness to Kyle Larson and understood that it’s going to be a tough road back, but that he believed in him – that he could do it, but we haven’t discussed anything relating over the last couple weeks.”
You recently mentioned on Twitter that Martinsville is your favorite track. You are close to win 40, what would it mean to get it done there?
“It would be special to get it there for sure. When we looked at all of the two-race week schedule, over the last few weeks, we really looked at the tracks and said that we should be able to win two or three of these, not easily, but easily. Obviously, Bristol slipped through us. We got the Darlington win, and I just feel like these tracks are really good for me. We’re good everywhere at this point. I don’t think we have any weaknesses at all, but Martinsville’s one that is special. I know that – that kind of a win, those big even number wins, the 40’s, the 50’s – if I can ever get there – those are going to be special moments and obviously, you take wins anywhere that you can get them, but if they can fall at a track that I cut my teeth at, it’d mean a little bit more.”
What makes Martinsville really hard?
“Well, it’s just the technicality of it. I think similar to a road course in how technical it is. The road courses you have to really be good using the gas and the brake. Your braking points – the car gets very, very light on entry there with the back tires, especially as the tires wear out. You got to really be conscious of how your braking. Your acceleration has got to be really on point. You rush the throttle and you will burn up the tires. So, I think it’s a driver’s racetrack in that sense that you have to be smart. You’re going to get run into at some point of the day. You can’t let that escalate and throw you off mentally, and you go an retaliate and the next thing you know you’ve got a torn-up car. It’s just a racetrack that demands no mistakes and that’s what I like about it.”
You’ve shared a lot of what you know with your teammates. So do you feel like you still have an advantage there?
“It has got spread out. I think it was in 2009, or 2010, me, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano went to Martinsville and we all shared one car. At that time, I was kind of, quite a bit better than those guys at that racetrack. They just made us do 50 lap runs and then look at all the data and figure out why is Kyle so much faster at the beginning, but slower at the end, and why is Joey a little off everywhere, and why I was faster through the run. I think that kind of opened their eyes and now they have their fair share of clocks.”
Curious if your mindset is different with no practice or qualifying, just race immediately?
“Yeah, your mindset is different because the track changes more than ever. Now it’s a little bit better when we have the trucks or Xfinity Series that has come in and raced before us that lays rubber down. But like when we go in there tomorrow night, we are going to be on a green racetrack. You have to as a driver, understand that don’t panic in the first couple runs until the track gets fully laid down with rubber. Then you can kind of analyze where your car is at and really make solid adjustments. It’s trying not to panic at the first part when you’re not exactly perfect is the challenge. We’re starting these races on green racetracks. There’s no practice; there’s no anything. So, I can’t tell you how different the car drives from lap one than what it will at lap 300 tomorrow night.”
Do you agree with Bubba Wallace that it’s time for NASCAR to ban the confederate flag? And what has it meant to you to see so many drives get behind the support of racial equality?
“Yeah, I’m really proud of what our sport did the last week. The drivers coming together and obviously, Bubba was a big part of that initiative. It opened a lot of eyes. I’ve probably watched more videos and tried to educate myself more and more of the last couple weeks than I ever have over the issue. I think that it’s a shame that ended up tragic as it did, but I also had some text conversations with Bubba, and I thought the went really, really well. My kind of take on it is though, although tragic these people that lost their lives are probably going to save thousands of lives in the future. That is their legacy for this country, and we continue to have to get better. NASCAR’s going to continue to make changes and I’m sure they will look at what flags they want to fly in the infield. If you look at all of the haulers – each and every weekend – they’ve got the American flags flown all over the top of them. That’s what we salute when we do the national anthem. I’m supportive of whatever they want to change.”
Do you expect the changes – running at night – at Martinsville to be different than what you experience normally?
“Very good question. Very smart question. Martinsville will be different in a lot of different ways. They’re bringing a new tire to that racetrack, that could be as big as or bigger change than any weather change that we are going to have from history. You look at the dates, it’s going to be way further in the year than we’ve raced at Martinsville, way hotter temperatures. It used to be with the old tires, we used to need for it to be 60 degrees outside temperature for the tire to lay rubber. I know they really worked hard in the Goodyear test to try to have a tire that laid rubber down, that had fall off, because we hadn’t had fall off, and the racing had kind of suffered the last few years when we had the big spoiler and now fall off. Just really, racing suffered at Martinsville. That’s a track that should never – we should never be talking about aerodynamics, so they worked really hard on it. Even though we are going from day to night, I don’t think it will be as much because it is still a concrete surface that is brighter in color. The lighter the color the less transition you’ll have from day to night anyway. I don’t think that will be as big as of a difference as the tire change and the actual temperature.”
You’ve been one of the drivers that have more supportive of a ‘choose rule’. Can you take us through when you were with the driver’s council where it was at and where you think it is at now?
“I think that NASCAR has got a lot of pressure from the drivers on it. They have for many, many years. I would say they have their hands full probably right now with everything going on and it’s hard to implement more and more changes. Especially, procedure changes, but I think it’s something that we will talk about a year from now and it will be part of our sport. I don’t know if it will happen a month from now. I don’t know if it will happen at the end of the season, when it will happen, but I think there will just be too much pressure, too much shenanigans that’s obviously going on, on pit road that – let us just choose. Let us choose the line we want to be in. If we want to sacrifice a few spots here-and-there, to be in the line that we want to be, then by all means. If you want to move up a line, and put yourself in a non-preferred groove, do that. There are interesting stats to this – look at David Smith’s stats – is that on rows four, five and six at Darlington, if you are on the inside, it’s a 0% chance that you’ll maintain your spot. 0% percent. You got to play the numbers. Everyone’s playing that game at the end of pit road. I nearly wiped out the front of someone or the back of (Ryan) Blaney when those guys were stopped at the end of pit road, so it’s not that hard. Local short tracks do it. These tracks are big enough that where you could put it, maybe going into turn one, where we choose after we get to one to go. We’ve got the way till we come back around to get back lined up for the green flag. We can do it. I’m certainly confident that with NASCAR’s officiating that they can make it happen, but I’ve also got to kind of give them a pass right now that they are really adapting in a lot of different things within our sport right now.”
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