Denny Hamlin on how much drivers impact NASCAR success, how long he'll keep at it and more: 12 Questions

New York Times

2 days ago

Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, who is tied for the NASCAR Cup Series lead in victories (four) with two races remaining before the playoffs begin. This interview has been edited for clarity, but the full version is available on the 12 Questions Podcast.
1. What was one of the first autographs you got as a kid, and what do you remember about that moment?
I know the first autograph I received. My dad was an honorary pit crew member — and back then, 'honorary' meant you actually had to work — for Junie Donlavey's team. He got all the autographs from the major drivers: Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, all those guys. He brought me a hat back with like 20 signatures on it.
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That was the first time I'd ever gotten an autograph from someone. My dad worked at Great Dane Trailers. Junie Donlavey was a Richmond-based team and they brought in their hauler for my dad to service it. Junie asked him, 'Hey, you want to come work on our team this weekend?' I think it was Dover.
So you looked at the hat, then you tried to figure out who signed it?
Oh, I knew signatures. Back when the Winston poster came out, you could cover up the names and I knew the signatures — or cover up the signatures and I knew the names. I knew everything back then.
2. What is the most miserable you've ever been inside of a race car?
Pain-wise, I've had some bad ones. Arguably the worst was Iowa last year. No one really knew about it, but I came down with a fever, which weakened my body, and then I threw out my back. I remember during pit stops telling the jackman, 'You can't just drop the jack — you need to squeeze it down.' I was in bad, bad shape.
Wow. I don't think we knew that, did we? Did you ever even talk about that on your podcast?
No, just blew that over. I went two laps down to start that race because I felt so horrible.
3. Outside of racing, what is your most recent memory of something you got way too competitive about?
Lately, it's bass fishing.
I saw this on social media. What prompted this?
There was some rinky-dink rod out on my dock two or three months ago. It was the middle of the night and I just threw it out there and caught a legit bass. I thought, 'Whoa. I like this. Is it this easy?' Turns out it's not. But it got me hooked. Now I'll have my bass boat in a couple weeks, I've got rods out the yin-yang — I'm full-on now.
It's convenient — I can go down to my dock, and my area has a lot of fish around it. It's also a way for me to get out of the house amidst the hustle and bustle.
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4. What do people get wrong about you?
I mean, I don't think I'm an a—hole.
But people do think that? Who? Fans from TV interviews?
It's more than likely people who have never met me, or saw me walking somewhere and I didn't have time to stop. I always try to when I can. Or maybe the s—talking I do on the track makes them think that's just who I am.
5. What kind of Uber passenger are you, and how much do you care about your Uber rating?
I don't care much about my Uber rating. But I'm a quiet, 'yes sir, yes ma'am' passenger. That's all I do.
However, I was once kicked out of an Uber in Miami because my mask fell below my nose. The driver didn't give me a warning — just told me to get out. I was in the middle of nowhere. I'm like, 'What!? Are you serious?'
No chance to put your mask back up?
Done. I was done. And I'm anti-confrontational when it comes to stuff like that. I'm not the send-the-steak-back kind of guy. But no warning. Just 'get the freak out of my car.'
They probably gave you one star for sure.
Oh yeah.
6. I've been doing these 12 Questions interviews for 16 years now. I'm going back to an earlier question and seeing how your answer compares. In 2010, I asked you: 'How long do you want your career to last?' You said, 'Probably until I'm 37 or 38 years old. There's too much outside of racing to do this until I'm 50 or whatever.'
(Turns to his friends) We missed the mark on that one, boys.
But you went on to say, 'I wish I could take one year off and then maybe I'd be driving until I was 50. But if I'm going to do this for the next 10 straight years, that'd be about it.' You were 29 years old when you said this. Now you're 44 and you just signed a two-year contract extension. So is this really it?
I'm clearly not good at predicting.
I'm trying to settle my mind into it. How I feel somewhat confident is (at Indianapolis) I thought, 'I've only got two more chances at this — damn it.' I'm preparing for that in my mind. I don't know though. There could be tons of outside factors that change it, but I'm going to try to see this as the last one.
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7. Also from another interview: In 2012, I asked you what percent of success in NASCAR is driver, what percent is team and what percent is luck? At the time, you said winning a championship was 40 percent driver, 40 percent car/team, and 20 percent luck. How has that changed?
I still think it's 40 percent driver. Now I'd switch car and luck to 30 percent each.
Cars aren't quite as much of a factor because they're more similar now, and luck because of the parity and since the cars all run the same speed. Driver still matters — that's why you see the same guys up front every week.
(Two days after this interview, Hamlin sent a note requesting to change his answer after sitting with the question. Here is his revised answer.)
After thinking about it more, I believe these are the correct percentages in today's world: Driver 65 percent, team 25 percent, luck 10 percent.
I lowered luck because it's not a factor in winning as much as being good is. It is still a factor in some wins, but great drivers have more opportunities to win because of their skill level. Team does matter, but with the Next Gen, you can't build the difference in cars like you used to. The driver is the one who sends team in a direction to make the cars fast, thus being the most important.
8. Other than one of your teammates, name a driver you'd be one of the first to congratulate in victory lane.
Anyone I had a spirited battle with — like a good last few laps. It really wouldn't matter who it was.
9. How much do you use AI technology?
A considerable amount.
You're a ChatGPT guy?
Absolutely. Lately, it's been, 'What fishing rig do I need for certain conditions?' (Laughs.)
10. What is a time in your life you felt was really challenging, but you're proud of how you responded?
The non-win year — 2018. It was like 'Oh, C-Bell (Christopher Bell) is coming to take your job' and whatnot. At that point, I decided to change my approach to racing and chose to go down an analytical path. (Hamlin has 27 wins since.)
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11. What needs to happen in NASCAR to take the sport to the next level of popularity?
If I wasn't in litigation, I'd give you a different answer.
What needs to happen to become more popular? (Thinks and exhales loudly.) I think it's probably the way we present our product to people — just taking ourselves a little more seriously.
12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next person. Last week was Kyle Busch, and he asked: Who is your favorite teammate of all time, and you can't say Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe or Ty Gibbs.
Erik Jones! (Laughs.)
Oh, he missed one! Well, Kyle also asked: Seriously though, who is your favorite crew chief of all time?
Ohhhhhh man. There was something about working with Dave Rogers — and this is why I hired him (at 23XI Racing, which Hamlin co-owns). The guy made me feel like I had the fastest car. Right before practice, it was 'We got this, we got that. In tech, they didn't see this, they didn't catch that. We got this by and that by.' I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm driving a rocket ship!' So he instantly put it on me like, 'Oh, we've got the fastest car. Are you ready?' I really liked that about Dave.
Do you have a question I can ask the next person?
(Hamlin said he would prefer to wait and see who it is.)
(Top photo of Denny Hamlin celebrating his win at Michigan in June: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)
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