Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (October 21, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media before practice for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday:
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
What did you think of NASCAR’s decision to rescind (Ryan) Blaney’s disqualification from last weekend in Las Vegas and does that change how you race your competitors?
“It doesn’t change anything in how I race. It’s just a different sidebar. It was the right call, even my crew chief (Chris Gabehart) mentioned it was the right one at the time. It’s good they got it right for sure.“
What do you remember from the finish in Martinsville last year?
“I don’t remember anything about it (the Ross Chastain last lap pass) and my crew was counting me off as the race was ending. We dominated the race, but then had a bad pit stop and went back to seventh or eighth. Then, Chris (Gabehart) told me how many spots we had to get (to advance to the next round) with very few laps. I was trying to get as many as I could, and Chris was constantly telling me where we were. I just remember him saying we were two points ahead going down the back straightaway on the last lap, battling Brad (Keselowski) for one more position. At that point, I didn’t think there was a need to push the envelope anymore. But yeah, ended up out of it and all I remember is him being there beside me at the end.”
How would you describe to the average fan how to run so close to the wall here at Homestead?
“Certainly, the closer you can get with a certain amount of speed is advantageous. There’s a little bit of a buffer there with the amount of air between the car and wall to stay there, but then that bubble can burst, and it can go wrong, going into the wall. It’s a very fine line and a lot of the time, it’s also dependent on the body of the car. Some bodies are better off doing that than others because of how aerodynamics wrap around the car. It just changes between the series – Xfinity, Cup cars, it’s all different, but certainly, the trend has seemed that with this track being so low grip, the top line and using that air buffer gives you the extra grip where it’s the fastest line if you can do it right. But you have to wait to do it right as well. You can just jump up there on lap one, it’s just not going to be there yet. It’s definitely a game of that and last year, it didn’t get going until a certain amount of time. You have to work around some other lanes to see where you’ll be good.
Would you say you’re in the category of someone like Kyle Larson in running the high line?
“I’ve had some wins here, Darlington, and other tracks where you run the wall. I think I’m better than average, but not at the level that Kyle (Larson) and those guys are. They’re willing to take a level of risk than I am. It depends on the scenario as well. When you’re going down to the end of the race and need some spots, you’re willing to push it a little bit more. I just manage risk a little differently. I’m not willing to fight for that little extra inch there to gain a small bit more lap time. If I can gain that somewhere else, I’ll do that.”
At a racers forum this week, Jeff Gordon mentioned teams should be more invested in themselves rather than drivers. What are your thoughts/opinions?
“If he’s wanting fans to resonate with the teams more than the drivers, good luck I don’t think that’ll happen. Our fans really latch onto a driver, it’s always been that way. There’ll generally be fans of the bigger teams, but there’s not that many there and it’s just different. It’ll be tough to make that happen and what campaign to do so, I’m not sure. The drivers are the stars and that’s where our fans resonate to.”
Do you have a favorite on-track Kevin Harvick story?
“Every time I try to think of one, it’s not a favorite, that’s for sure. Just the battles we’ve had over the years. In 2020, when we were winning a bunch of the races, we just had so many 1-2 battles. One in particular, was at Loudon that summer. It was really interesting, as he knew what I was thinking but I thought I was playing a chess move ahead of him, yet he was onto it. The way we battled there at the end was a lot of fun and I gained a lot of respect for him as a racing driver.
A favorite off-track Kevin Harvick story?
“I haven’t had a lot of interactions with Kevin (Harvick) away from the track, but one was when I was vetting Kurt (Busch) for 23XI Racing through some of his former teammates. I went to lunch with Kevin and talked with him about business, and things he learned from KHI (Kevin Harvick, Inc.). Those were really good conversations and may have been the first time I had lunch with a competitor that wasn’t necessarily my friend. I learned a lot from him in that moment. We also discussed how our teams work, our similar career paths and more. It was really cool.”
You and Kevin Harvick are lauded in the garage for your leadership. What have you seen from him there?
“He’s very calculated and he likes to be in control, that’s for sure. I really like his style and how he leads. I believe he’s a very important person in the sport. In my opinion, he’s like a Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart type person in the sport and when he leaves, you’ll notice he’s gone. I think he’s been a leader in the sport for a long time and may be the last legacy guy we have that knows how it used to be, so he’s an important figure. We’ll certainly miss him on this side.”
You’ve seen Kyle Larson up close for years. Any ideas on what makes him so good at what he does?
“Other than willing to take a few more risks, not really. I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. There are some very minor things here and there, but nothing I’ll share publicly. There’s nothing that jumps off the page, just a couple really small things.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).
Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).
