Toyota GAZOO Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
MADISON, Ill. (September 6, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Do you know if anyone has come after Tyler Reddick?
“We have him under contract. I think he probably feels as confident as we are for December. I’m not sure.”
Are you worried about tire wear with the forecast for Bristol?
“I think the tire change is going to mean more than the conditions will. Apparently, this right-side tire is going to be more aggressive as far as a tire wear stand point – that is the goal of it, which I’m all for it. Any time, Goodyear and NASCAR can get together and be okay with some chaos style racing, when it comes to the tires, I’m all for it. Certainly, the teams and the drivers will separate themselves when that happens.”
What more do you need to get the win here?
“Not really sure. We’ve just kind of been a top-five car. We have a couple of second-place finishes. I don’t know. We just have to get a little bit better. We are going into this weekend with a good mindset and understanding with how I need to be to feel better, so we will go to work on it and see whether we step up a little more than the competition. Ultimately, just haven’t been fast enough to win the last couple of races here, so hopefully we can change that.”
Do you think the tire compound this weekend will affect the race for you positively?
“I’m not really sure. The reduced stagger is one thing. The only thing about the Iowa tire is we saw the racing was very, very challenging there. You can attribute it to track or tire, but we are bringing one of those elements here to this track, so we will see if it has any fall off at all. We will see during practice.”
How does your focus shift with your Playoff standing?
“I mean, if you had to put me on the spot right now, I don’t think I could tell you what races are in the next round. I just know this one and the next one, but beyond that, I don’t look too far forward. I just try to focus so much on the week ahead, but I’m sure there will be some challenging tracks for us. The first round – if I remember – is pretty straight forward, and it is where we can gain some spots and get some wins, then if the second round has a little more challenge to it, then we need to stack those Playoff points in this round. I haven’t focused on that round quite yet.”
Is there a number that you want to be above the cutline leaving here?
“Anything 50 or more is a pretty comfortable spot, even if you typically DNF. You have to add in if the people below the cut, are they really legitimate contenders to win a race or not, at Bristol? So, 50 or more would be fine. Even if it is less than that, it’s fine. We were far less than that last year at Bristol, and unfortunately, had to run that race a little bit more conservatively because we weren’t in as comfortable of a spot as I was hoping for, so I would like to go to Bristol not having to worry about anything – simply, like Jeff (Gluck) talked about with the tire and stuff, you never know what can happen, and certainly, if you want to win that race, you are going to have to be aggressive as a driver, and certainly, you don’t want to have to think about the repercussions of missing the next round at Bristol because it could hamper your ability to win that race.”
What is it like as driver to be on the cutline?
“Everyone’s situation is different. Everyone’s speed is different. Everyone’s ability to win is different, and so I would say that everyone’s mindset is probably a little different. I think there is probably will be a couple of guys below the cut probably praying something bad happens to the guys in front of them because that is really their only shot. They are not going to gain that many points to the cutline. You maybe will have one that will have to win, so on and so forth. Everyone’s situation will be a little different. I can only speak for our team, and that we want to go to Bristol with the opportunity to win. I want to be 100 percent – that is the only mindset, win and who cares if you finish last, and that is probably a unique place that only two or three guys will have at that track.”
What is the biggest challenge for you here at Gateway?
“The passing is the most difficult part at this track. The straightaways are long, the corners are pretty narrow, so the passing aspect, the clean air – which is like any other bigger race track with this car in general.”
How do you feel about Bubba’s shot at advancing?
“I think they probably feel pretty good. Ceratinly, they’ve got some good tracks these next couple of weeks and certainly have the speed to do it. As long as they focus on the execution, they will be fine.”
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