Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
CONCORD, N.C. (October 12, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
What are your thoughts on the change to the DVP rules?
“The good part is – they talked to the crew chiefs and said this is the way they are going to view the rule. I don’t know if there has actually been a rule change, but certainly the interpretation of it has changed. Whatever consistency it is – just let’s ride that out for the rest of the year.”
Have you done much sim work for this weekend and what are your thoughts on the changes to the track?
“It will certainly be different for sure. As time goes on, everyone is going to adapt their style to a very similar style, as we do on most tracks. It is inviting to go in there and dive bomb, and that will get rewarded sometimes, and sometimes it won’t. It is the same track for everyone, someone is going to win, so you just hope you are it.”
Does it tell you anything about the Playoff schedule with the top-eight guys in points also being the current top-eight?
“Not really. Certainly, the work you put into the regular season definitely helps with that. You get to have a jump start when the round starts. Those who have the most regular season points, or bonus points, are going to always reset back to the top. If it was all zero, where would it all be? I think that shows the importance of the regular season, and certainly if you can build a buffer for bad days, that really pays off in rounds like these, but we haven’t seen this round fully play out quite yet.”
Do you have any concern since Toyotas have not won recently?
“It has been a minute for sure for any of our cars to get to victory lane, and we just haven’t won as many races through the summer months as we were planning on. It is for various reasons, but yeah, as we look at how the tracks lay out, we haven’t had that all out speed that we have seen in years past, but still, I haven’t gone to the race track any weekend and thought that my car was incapable of winning. We just haven’t done it and none of our Toyotas have done it. It is up to us and the teams to finish it off for Toyota.”
With this DVP change, do you think they should have waited until after the season was over?
“We certainly play by the letter of the law for a very long time, and then we varied from that, so while, there has been a change since last week, at least if what they said was true, they are going to play it the same from here on out and not change. I would have certainly rather it changed at the end of the year like they talked about, but here we are and hopefully we have some consistency for the last five.”
Is a 30-point buffer safe enough going into Sunday?
“If I don’t have a horrible day, yes. But I’ve had horrible days here. I feel better about it than I did with five to go at Talladega, certainly. I think that I just have to do my part in all of this. That starts today and goes on to tomorrow and I just need to do my job to best of my ability, and if so, then we will be fine. If not, we will see how it all stacks up, but 30 points – if you would have asked me before Talladega, would you be alright with 30 points to the good going to the ROVAL, I would have said yes.”
Do you feel like you are less of a disadvantage here because the course has changed?
“Well, I was pretty decent last year. Looking back at the race, qualified inside the top-10, ran inside the top-10. We decided to stay out for stage points to lock ourselves in and it put me last when we started stage three, and then I got caught up in someone else’s wreck. So yeah, the result was horrible, but I thought I was the most competitive that I’ve been at this race track since we’ve run here. I’m at least optimistic about that.”
As far as the DVP, there are so many scenarios. Do you think about that?
“There is too much other stuff to really put DVP – there is no section in my brain for it right now. I would say that – certainly, there is going to be unintended consequences to it, right? That is going to be, when you tow cars back to pit road, when do you open pit road? Do you just wait, wait, wait – then you have some fuel mileage issues. People need to pit, next thing you know, the tow truck is sitting in their pit stall. There is going to be – while this has evolved – there will be some kinks in it that we don’t plan for, you just hope that I don’t know, if there is a multi-car wreck, you just hope that you are the first one to get towed, because it will certainly be a big advantage.”
How much does where you start tomorrow change your strategy for the race?
“It will have a factor – no doubt about it. A lot of it also depends on who is in front of you in the qualifying order and what is their agenda. I probably won’t know what Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) will do coming out of the back chicane, and we are coming to two to go, and does he call me to pit road or not – a lot of that is waiting and seeing what does the competition do, how many points can you get, and so yes. Today is the start of your strategy, and it can alter based on what we do today.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
