Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
Fort Worth, Texas (July 17, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media via videoconference in advance of the race at Texas Motor Speedway:
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
In such a unique season, what will it mean for a team to win the championship?
“I think that any time you can show versatility in adverse conditions, you’re kind of showing your strength. That’s kind of what we’ve done this year. With everything that’s changed, our team has just done a phenomenal job of keeping it all together and if anything, kind of exceeding in these extreme situations. I think it shows strength, certainly your preparation before you even get to the race track with the limited amount to no amount of practice. I think for me personally, I take a lot of pride in it.”
When do you need to know if there is a course change to the Daytona road course event?
“Probably before you go into your simulator. Especially if there’s no practice. I find it really, really interesting that they’re not going to have any practice at a track that 95 percent of us have not run a lap. When you talk about, someone said, ‘Why not just have a competition caution on lap five?’ I said, it’s not going to be competition, it’s just going to be a caution. We’re more likely going to be running pace laps for a while anyway. I really, personally would have liked to see even 30 minutes to get us acclimated to some braking points and what not. I definitely understand the owner’s side of it and NASCAR’s side of it where you don’t want to have to prepare backup cars just in case. Heck, maybe even – I’m just politicking through you guys – why not have the implication of knowing that this 30-minute practice session, if you wreck, you finish last. Just like you would in the race. If someone is going to wreck in that 30-minute practice session, they were more than likely going to wreck in the race anyway. I think that we can take it easy, we can go slow and make sure we just get acclimated before we go green. You don’t want to put on a bad race that’s just filled with cautions. I worry that could be the case. As a driver, if the chicane part, you probably need to know a month in advance. That’s probably the right number.”
How does the race change at Texas with it being in the heat of the day?
“Maybe a little bit. The conditions are definitely going to be hotter than what we’ve had there before. We’re all assuming the PJ1 will be sprayed the same. That’s a 50-50 crap shoot at this point. Whether that’s going to be the same and in the same line. I think we’re going to probably use some notes from the previous races there last year. This is one of few race tracks, not few, but one of the race tracks where you don’t have a rules change with the aerodynamic or engine package from last year. We will take into account weather and all that stuff to figure out what kind of car we need to take to that race track to be successful. Hopefully, we guess right.”
How long did it take you to get past the heartbreak at Indianapolis and where is your momentum?
“Indy certainly derailed some. We were going to win a couple races in a row and four out of the last whatever. It was out of my control and the reason I was so gutted and there was no question in my mind that I took Indy harder than I took the championship last year as far as how my emotions felt afterwards. When you think about the three main accomplishments that I would really like to check off – a championship, the Coke 600 and the Brickyard 400. I think about how the last three of those went. The championship, the tape. The Coke 600, the lead fell out leaving pit road. And the Brickyard 400, we’re leading and we blow a tire. I can’t do anything else. I’m trying to do everything I can to get those done, but I can take enough solace in knowing I’m doing all I can to accomplish the goals that I want to accomplish. It just didn’t’ work out and the three of them didn’t work out right in a row, which really stings a little bit more. Okay, the championship, we’ll get another run at it. The 600, man we were really fast and didn’t even get a chance to show it. Then the Brickyard, it’s like, okay, at least we’re going to get one of these three done in the last 12 months. And I’m counting down the laps and I just can’t believe it. It’s heartbreaking, but we just ran like crap at Kentucky. All of our cars ran terrible except for (Martin) Truex. We go to Bristol, and I think me and Kyle (Busch) were probably one of the two best cars. I just started so far deep in the field, just not enough laps to show that. I feel confident that we still have our momentum and I’m going to drive into turn one at Texas as if I have the fastest car again.”
What is the difference at Kansas under the lights for your success at that track?
“One thing that was different last year was that our car was rocket fast. I did not go into that race thinking we were going to dominate and we got to the front and we flat dominated. There was something about that setup that made me drive that track well. I don’t know if that was much driver on that one, but it was out of the blue. I forget where we started in the fall, but certainly it was just a fast and dominating car and we were able to hold off a few guys in those final few restarts to win it. Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) just nailed it on that one and any time you have a car that handles as good as that one, it makes things a lot easier. The good news is, I talked about this with Texas, there’s not much change from the previous race to this one coming up. I’m pretty optimistic about that one for sure.”
Where is Kyle Busch’s argument that the JGR Camrys have a lack of speed when you’ve won four races and Truex has won one?
“I think it’s because one of us are hitting the setup perfectly during a given week. That’s how you can kind of tell an organization that has got fast cars. Let’s bring California up for instance. All of our cars, we had one car maybe run towards the front, but all of us were not that good. But Hendrick had the race winner and they had a bunch of guys in the top-five and top-10. That tells you right there that the organization was just fast. Their cars were really fast. The cars, when you have an organization that has cars that fast and the cars have speed, you don’t have to hit the setup exactly perfect to be fast and be competitive and run for race wins. I think what he’s (Kyle Busch) saying right now is there’s one of us that seems to be hitting it week in and week out and getting the setup closer to where it needs to be and the cars don’t have the all-out speed for us to make that box bigger. That’s probably what he’s talking about and I don’t necessarily disagree that we do need more speed at this time.”
Is there another organization that’s currently hitting all eight cylinders and can beat you every week?
“Not week in and week out, no. I like our chances. I would say that I don’t think there’s anyone. Maybe Stewart Haas, it’s so week to week. Stewart Haas had cars that were up front at Kentucky. All their cars were kind of up front. Who knows, this week at Texas, JGR might look great and all of our cars could be up front. I think that you make a valid point, no one has sustained the strength as an organization through the whole year. Everyone thought it was Chevy and Hendrick early on and then that kind of faded. Chase (Elliott) has been the standout from that organization. There’s always been one standout from each organization. Maybe Penske the only consistent ones that have their two or three cars in the top-10 on a more consistent basis right now.”
Do you think the unpredictability is coming from a lack of practice?
“Yeah. It very well could be because no two – it doesn’t matter what organization it is, no two cars are running the same setup. Everyone is on a different setup in every organization. I think that by not having practice, it’s all on the crew chiefs, the engineers and the drivers to think of the setup that they need and someone is going to hit it better than the other. You can’t change the major parts and pieces under a pit stop so you’ve kind of got what you’ve got when you decide to unload.”
Do you have concerns with track preparation and are you concerned with how the traction compound will be applied for this weekend after many drivers weren’t happy with the application in Kentucky?
“I would say it’s a sensitive subject for me personally because I work directly with NASCAR on track prep. What’s disappointing from my perspective and on the record, I love the Smith family, but they go rogue sometimes when it comes to thinking that they’re in the competition business. It’s disappointing because the information that NASCAR gets from us on track prep and how to prepare the race track to put on the best possible racing comes from the drivers who do it themselves and they know better than anyone. Better than anyone. The decision, the track was prepped in a certain way. We weren’t over-joyed with it to start the weekend and we saw the start of the Xfinity race and the first couple races, we had an issue and we really need to work on it. The issue is to let that main line run off. The only way to stop that one lane race track is to let that wear out. With them just going in overnight and re-spraying that middle lane again before the race was just not ideal. There was a lot of people that weren’t happy with it. Luckily, we had a four-wide to the finish. That saved the day as far as, did we have a great race or not. Man, I really wish SMI in particular would just listen to the guidance in which the drivers and NASCAR give them when it comes to spraying these race tracks.”
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