Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
RICHMOND, Va. (August 10, 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 Richmond Raceway.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Are you doing anything different for the Playoff prep this season?
“I haven’t – not yet, not unless something new comes up – new information or something like that. Our process is pretty refined at this moment in kind of how I prepare for each race, and each round – not a whole lot has changed. I kind of keeping going that if I do the best I can each week, my team – they will do the best job they can, we compete against ourselves most weeks.”
Would you like to see Richmond Raceway in the Playoffs?
“Of course, I’m biased, so I would love to see Richmond in Playoffs, not only for the hometown reasons, but the on-track success certainly plays a role also. Yes, I would love too, but it really amounts to how they want to put to the pieces of the puzzle of the Playoffs and the season together. SMI and ISC will kind of see as fit.”
Are you familiar with the system that you can start using in Michigan?
“I would think we would unless there is some big competitive disadvantage to it, but I don’t know a whole lot about it other than it is available, and I’ve seen the apparatus that it is.”
Do you consider the Bristol Night Race as one of the crown jewels?
“It is certainly one of the biggest races, for whatever reason – I think it has just gravitated that way with how more people seem to gravitate towards that race from a spectator standpoint, from an audience standpoint. I think that naturally you can call it one, but I think it is up for debate. Certainly, if you added one, there would be no other track or race that would take the prestige of that one.”
What has been the key to your success at Bristol?
“It doesn’t change because I know if you win there, you are moving on. It is still a cutoff race? (Yes.) Well, at that point the first round – you kind of know where you are at. Usually, we are in a comfortable position, which allows me to race a little more freely, but ultimately, I just want to win there. We call races on the goal of trying to win and not trying to be concerned with it.”
What has stood out to you about Tyler Reddick since joining 23XI?
“I think that his ability to adapt. I knew he was good at it. He was certainly good at it, at several different race tracks but his ability to adapt during a race. No one has a perfect handle on the car, but driving the best of what you’ve got is what I think he is really, really good at. He’s gifted at getting speed out of a car, but even when it is not exactly right. That to me is what the upper echelon of drivers are able to do, and that is why he is in that group.”
What stands out about Riley Herbst or what stood out to you in Indy?
“Well, I was more speaking to the race itself and Riley’s (Herbst) moves. The combination of the two was super impressive. I was on the edge of my seat watching that race, and seeing how it was all playing out the last five laps or so. I thought that he made some great moves, great decisions and controlled his car great. I thought it was very, very impressive.”
Do you get sentimental when you come to Richmond or is it just another race?
“No, it is not another race. I certainly come here with high expectations of myself, and I expect a lot out of myself when I come here. There is always a little bit more pressure that I put on myself when I hit the track here. It is not another race because of the hometown connection, and my family and friends that come and visit. This is one of the few times that I come back to Richmond, so it is a chance for us to get together. It is always special for that reason, and I get to go on and put them on a show on Sunday. That is always fun. It is a special track. It has crazy, over the years, it still drives the exact same, I feel like, as my rookie season 20 years ago. It is very unique. It is very technical, and it takes a lot of discipline to be good here. I watched some of the great short track racers in the Mid-Atlantic run the short tracks of Langley and Southside and that is what I believe helped me run good at this type of track.”
What are your emotions about it looking like Richmond will only have one race weekend next season?
“I kind of understand NASCAR’s decision because they ultimately – if the fans turned out here and we sold out every race, then there would be two races. They are going to do things that the fans want to participate in. It is crazy because it is always one of our top five markets that watch us on TV, but don’t actually come to the race track itself. It is interesting. There is plenty of racing fans around here but getting them to the race track has been challenging in the past, but I know they have spent significant money at the race track with the fan experience. I think that has all been a really positive thing, but sometimes these are the cycles that you have to go through. Hopefully, it is a learning lesson for the track, and everyone involved that can get this track back revigorated as one of the top short tracks that we have on our schedule. It is a shame if it goes to one week, but the audience here has made it warranted.”
How did you get Juan Pablo Montoya to race with you at Watkins Glen?
“A lot of it came from Steve Lauletta (23XI), our president. He reached out to Juan (Pablo Montoya) first of all. Well, it started with a conversation with Mobil 1, and their connections to F1, and they had, had a connection with Juan in his past. A lot of this is geared around Mobil 1’s 50th anniversary. It is certainly special to them, and we want to showcase certain drivers. They talked about up-and-coming ones, along with champions of motorsport. We did that with (Kamui) Kobayshi and obviously, Corey (Heim), on the young side and Juan is the champion, so we have kind of hit on all of the boxes that we wanted to with that. We wanted someone that is going to be competitive as well, and Juan certainly believes that Watkins Glen is a track that he has had significant time at, in the Cup Series, and believes that he can be competitive. I thought it was a great collaboration between Mobil 1 and 23XI.”
Can you give us your thoughts about Roy Hendrick?
“It was sobering for him to pass away. He was certainly an instrumental part of me growing my love for the sport. He was part of kind of a three-man battle at Southside Speedway each and every Friday night – Wayne Patterson, Eddie Johnson, Roy Hendrick. Those were the guys that constantly battled every Friday. With that famous flying 11 that he had, his dad had, it was a staple in our sport. I know when we did a throwback to him, I believe back in 2017 at Darlington, I was able to win the race. He was able to be there in victory lane. It was just awesome to see how full circle it all went. I was such a fan of his growing up, and now he is wearing the number 11 of the car I was driving that day. Hopefully, we are able to do some kind of tribute to him at Darlington as well, this year. Thoughts go out to his family. Certainly, he is one of the great short track racers that we lost.”
Do motorsports have a place in the Olympics?
“You would think so, the only difference in all of the other sports the equipment is the same. I don’t know how you would do it in a motorsports type of fashion, short of everyone having an opportunity in the same things. If you change one degree of weather and it could change the advantage one has over the other. It would be very difficult. It would be very costly for the Olympic commission to try to put something together for motorsports, but I saw some sports that I didn’t know this time around, so I would love to see motorsports as part of it, but I don’t know how feasible it is, just knowing that we all drive different equipment.”
What has David Wilson meant to you as a driver and as an owner?
“Quite a bit. He was the one that believed in me from the very get go when I started 23XI. I will never forget the grocery store parking lot that I was sitting in when I called him and asked him if he would help support this race team that we started. Early on in my career, we made the switch over to Toyota and TRD at Joe Gibbs Racing. He was an instrumental part of that being their flagship team and the team that could carry the brand on for decades and it has. I definitely agree with everything that he said. He made the investment in racing. They changed the game. You will not find another manufacturer, that I believe – there just isn’t, that spends as much money as Toyota Motor North America in not only the racing that you see on Sunday, but the grassroots racing. Top to bottom, Toyota is heavily invested in motorsports in the United States and it because of people like David Wilson that helped push that program to where it is at. A lot of drivers, crew members all owe a huge debt of gratitude to David and what he has done.”
About Toyota
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