Toyota GAZOO Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 12, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Friday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Can you try anything in this practice differently since you are locked in to the next round?
“I don’t think so. I think everyone is kind of racing for themselves and their own agendas. Everyone within the teams probably has a little bit of a different agenda if you look at the points positions. Not really. We will just focus on trying to win for us.”
What can you take from this practice if anything? When do you think we will know what the tire will do?
“Well, I think the track has some rubber already. I don’t think there has been any rain since last night, so we have some truck rubber up there. Xfinity in practice, I noticed a few guys starting to run it in. I think if it wears in these conditions, then it probably will wear tomorrow. Your guess is as good as mine. I don’t know. We will kind of wait and see. We will be highly anticipating what that first session does. It could close to the same or entirely different – we just don’t know, but I think whatever you have today – I don’t see a dramatic shift and it changing for tomorrow.”
Does having a win change your approach to this weekend?
“Not really. I think the risks probably changes from inside the car. I don’t know that it changes a whole lot when it comes from set-up, certainly, it kind of depends on what happens with practice, right? If there is dramatic tire wear, certainly, there is some set-up things you can do to make that better, but ultimately, you are just trying to get to lap 500 up front, and with a shot, and I don’t know that changes a whole lot if you have a win or not. I think everyone is going to try to make their cars as fast as they can, and then you make setup decisions based on the tire wear you see to try to make it last that long.”
Is it exciting to you coming into Bristol with the unknowns about the tires?
“It certainly does. None of the teams have tested this tire, that I know of, so there has been no tire test. We are all coming in here pretty cold, and so, I definitely think there is an opportunity to create comers and goers. People that nail the tire setup and those that didn’t. I think there is a higher level of anticipation because of that. “
Do you come in thinking if you run well this weekend that every track is a Joe Gibbs Racing track?
“Certainly, we have a good shot at it. I think that the Gibbs team in general doesn’t have a weak track, but we had weak performances earlier in the year. If you look at Las Vegas, I don’t think any of our cars were fast at that race. I can think of one or two other races in the beginning of the season where we all kind of struggled, and they were all tracks where typically we are pretty strong. I think we’ve hemmed that up a little bit, where we’ve identified some of the philosophies that we did that weren’t right, and so now, certainly, every weekend we go there and one of the Gibbs cars should be in the top-three or so in speed and have a shot to win.”
What do you remember about the Loudon race from last year?
“I don’t have a great recollection of it. It is not part of my mindset totally, quite yet as far as going back and learning track history. Certainly, it is on the forefront of our team and what we are focused on. It is always an interesting track, but that was the first time I remember being on a higher speed oval, I guess we did at Richmond, but on a higher speed oval – with these rain tires and the wet conditions, it was very, very sketchy from my standpoint. I just hope it stays dry from my point.”
Do you anticipate the PJ1 reacting any differently than the past?
“No, it looks very similar to what we’ve had in the past here in races during practice. Probably as the race goes on, it will go through a transition where it actually goes darker, and then it goes lighter by the end of the race as we start picking it up. I will be looking at the Xfinity race to see how that transition is going, but NASCAR and the track has said they’ve applied it the same as they always have, and they always have applied it very similar, so I wouldn’t expect that to be one of the variables that we are chasing.”
Is there any difference on how you go into this race versus how you went into the race last year being below the cutline?
“It was definitely different. I tried to approach each week the same when it comes to my process, but now certainly, your mind plays games with you though. There is certainly a different mindset when you are locked in versus being below the cut or being near the cut, so without a doubt, I’m resting much, much easier this year in the Playoffs in general. I’m way more loose with it, whatever the results are, the results are. So that helps, and on top of that, winning – it just makes me even looser. Certainly, yes, anytime I go into a cut race and I’m close to the cut, I have to pull myself back to not think about the things that I don’t control, and that is typically what I think drivers would say when they get in these scenarios where they are facing elimination – they are worrying about all of the things they can’t control. It is certainly a different mindset.”
How challenging was that to you last year?
“I didn’t let it dominate me for sure, but I just knew that we were good enough. One of the variables if you make cutlines or not is that – are you fast enough? Just on merits or do you need someone to not be as good as they normally are, and then you avoid trouble. Well, when you are fast, you just have to worry about the avoiding trouble part of it – and not the, I also hope we have speed. It made it very easy for me to not have to worry about that last year, because I knew we were going to have one of those covered. The other part is the part you typically worry about. I would say for some that are near the cutline, I think some of them are probably thinking about I hope I have one of those two elements, and you need two to survive.”
What is the load on the car here at Bristol compared to other tracks?
“It does. When Next Gen was first introduced, this was one of the tracks where there was a lot of mechanical failures – mostly in the steering components, and some in the suspension components. A lot of it is because the car loads up so quickly and so hard at this track. It always has taken its toll, and I don’t know how many races we’ve run here, but it always seems like there is always one where the track or the conditions have taken its toll on the car, but beyond that – the driver as well. 1,000 corners you have to run around this place, and you don’t get a whole lot of a break on the straightaways because they are so short. For sure, it takes its toll on all of the above.”
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