TOYOTA RACING – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
SPEEDWAY, Ind. (July 24, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Friday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Is there any change in your thought when it comes to potential retirement at the end of next year?
“No, I’ve just been so focused on the week to week that, I haven’t really thought too much about the feature. Obviously, JGR’s (Joe Gibbs Racing) got good plans set in place and whatnot for that. So, no, not really, haven’t put any more thought into or second thoughts or anything like that. So, it just really riding the wave of week to week right now and continue trying to get more wins.”
Why do you think this makes place demands excellence?
“It’d be interesting to see, like, what other racetracks have similar stats like that. Ultimately, you have to have kind of everything, you have to have the downforce for the corner, so you have to have straightaway speed, so you need your engines, good for the straightaways. You have a great team to call a great race for strategy. You’re going to need to qualify somewhat pretty well. So I think just all aspects of your team have to be buttoned up when you come here. There are not really any weaknesses and there’s probably four to five key components to a race team and their ability to win, and you had to have all five. You can’t be missing one. You come out on the last pit stop, last fuel stop, fifth or sixth. I mean, you’re cooked. You’re done at that point. So you just kind of know where you stand and everything kind of plays out through the race and, yeah, the best always seem to get to the front.”
Toyota has pretty much dominated the intermediates. Is there any reason to think they won’t this weekend?
“don’t know, this is just so different from an intermediate standpoint. Now it’s got high corner speeds, which you would consider intermediate. But you also don’t know like what decisions teams make on the trim levels of their car, very similar to Pocono, things could, someone could just say, hey, you know what, I’m trimming out. I want to qualify up front. That’s how we’re going to keep our track position. So, I’m optimistic that, yeah, our speed should carry, but it’s not a given.”
Have you guys started trying to figure out how to strategize the new practice with you having 50 minutes before qualifying?
“I think it depends on the racetrack as to whether you make qualifying runs or where you make two race runs, how many miles do you want to put on the engine. I don’t foresee, like, it just kind of depends on the track, but I don’t think you’re going to see people jumping at the drop of the green flag to get on the racetrack for a full 50 minutes. I think for everyone, it’s different. We saw last week, some teams ran two sets of tires. Some did not. I just ran one. It just depends on every team’s agenda and everyone will be different.”
How do you feel like your legacy is right now and how you’ll build on that? Also, are you surprised Carson Hocevar also are being the same list?
“No, I’m not surprised. I think, certainly he’s gotten a lot of attention in the sport here in the last few months, and so certainly riding that high. If you look at kind of his engagement rates, it is very, very high, so I’m not really surprised by that necessarily. We started the race team to continue the legacy beyond driving. I knew that my racing career, the driving days were only going to be a certain time. So, how can I be part of the sport after my last year? That was my best avenue to doing it. So, it’s great that we’ve been able to make the changes that we’ve had and built this race team into championship contenders, and it’s exceeded really all the expectations that I’ve had for it in such a short amount of time. It’s certainly an honor to be amongst a lot of sport greats.”
Has that changed your view on how far back you can be?
“You just kind of have to win, like, a lot of races in a row. But if you are 16th, I don’t know that you’ve got the ability to go through win three in a row. Let’s all be honest about that. So, I don’t know, I think there’s a few that can, but I just don’t see anyone from the very back doing that.”
What would the desperation level be like, for you or other guys up front, late this race on Sunday with people have never won it and see the opportunity to go do that?
“Well, I would think, for me, it would probably be more desperate. I’ve got a couple shots at this left, so I think more desperate. I’m certainly willing to take a few more risks here, whether it be on restarts or whatever it might be, if it’s a strategy, something to give us a shot to win, simply because this is like the Daytona 500, I really don’t see this as a race where I count points. I count, like, did you win or did you not? For me, I think that’s the most important thing. Hopefully we have we have all the pieces in place to do that, but there’s only so many risks you can take. If you’re 10 laps short on fuel, that’s a stupid risk. You’re not going to make it, right? But if you’re a couple, then are you willing to make that risk? I think that my team knows that that what I want them to do this weekend.”
Why doesn’t NASCAR, with its four majors, get the same conversation about the number of majors, that kind of thing?
“I’m not really sure. I mean, it’s up to y’all to build that story. I think that’s what you’re doing, right? Yeah, that’s fair. Yeah, he’s saying that even the drivers don’t talk about it much. It’s true. I don’t know why, because it’s certainly part of your resume. I mean, when they talk about your legacy when it’s all said and done, it’s that did win here, win at Charlotte, win at Daytona, win at Darlington, those are the ones that actually get printed. Not my Pocono wins, no one’s going care, unfortunately, about those. So, yeah, I don’t know why. It’s interesting, but it probably should be more to everyone, and I think it means a lot to the drivers. I don’t know why I could then get spoke about quite as much. It’s a good point.”
What would a potential Days of Thunder sequel mean to the sport?
“Yeah, I think that there’s nothing but positives that certainly can come out of it. Any account of awareness, you can bring to the sport, even if it’s dramatized, I think can really be a good thing. So, yeah, I’ve met with the directors and the writers, quite a bit on it, and felt like, yeah, they’re on a really fun path, and I think it’s going to be great for the screen.”
About Toyota
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