Digital Social Hour - Lessons from 54 Wins: Denny Hamlin’s Career Secrets | Denny Hamlin DSH #1974

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

🏁 Lessons from 54 Wins: Denny Hamlin’s Career Secrets 🚗💨 Ever wondered what it takes to dominate NASCAR for 20 years? Tune in now as Denny Hamlin shares his career-defining moments, from iconic wins like the 2016 Daytona 500 to battling through intense rivalries and injuries. 🏆 Packed with valuable insights, this episode dives into Denny’s secrets for staying sharp, handling the pressure of a long season, and balancing life as both a driver and team owner at 23XI Racing.  Hear firsthand what it’s like to face the heat—literally—inside the car, the mental chess game on the track, and how he embraces the "villain" role in NASCAR. Plus, get an inside look at his podcast, "Actions Detrimental," where Denny breaks down races and shares untold stories from behind the wheel. 🎙️  Don’t miss out on this thrilling conversation with Sean Kelly on the Digital Social Hour! Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets. 📺 Hit that subscribe button and join the conversation for more eye-opening stories from the world of racing and beyond. 🚀🔥 CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - Denny’s 9 Month Racing Season 02:12 - Denny’s 20/10 Vision 04:56 - Racing’s Impact on Denny’s Back 08:28 - Denny’s Fantasy Basketball League 09:58 - Meeting Michael Jordan 14:16 - Driver vs Car Performance 16:08 - Memorable Races 20:07 - Golf Insights 23:57 - Racing Rivalries 26:28 - Losing Sponsors in Racing 28:40 - NASCAR Team Deals 32:06 - Future of Electric NASCAR 34:52 - Favorite Racing Win 37:29 - Where to Find Denny’s Podcast 37:39 - Denny’s Podcast Creation Process 38:04 - Thanks for Watching APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Denny Hamlin https://www.instagram.com/dennyhamlin/ https://www.dennyhamlin.com/ SPONSORS: KINSTA:  https://kinsta.com/dsh RXSUGAR: https://rxsugar.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ #f1news #kylelarson #christopherbell #23xi #nascarnews #michaelmrucz #michaelmrucznascar #michaelmruczrage #dennyhamlin #nascarracinginsights

pretty early when you're looking to make a change and you know, Tyler Reddick who went to the championship race last year for us. We signed him two years before his deal was even up. And so he ended up leading the team he was with, got pissed off, kicked him out early. So we actually got him a year early, but we had to pay them for that. Interesting. All right guys, Denny Hamlin out here in Vegas. Got a race tomorrow. Thanks for stopping in, man.

Yeah, appreciate you having me. Yeah, how are things in your world so far this year? It's going good. You know, we're just a couple of races in, but you know, it's early in the season. We got 38 weeks. This is week five. So we got quite a bit of time left and usually I don't hit my stride

typically till the summer months of the season. That's a long season. That might be the longest of any pro sport right? It is actually. Yeah. So we go from essentially Valentine's Day, actually before that now, February 1st to the first week of November. So essentially we get most of November off, December off, in January and then we're back at it. That's crazy. And when I say off, like that's a very loose term because we still have tons of obligations, you know, photo shoots and media shoots and sponsorship shoots that we got to do in the off season. So yeah, three months off, that's it. We're racing for nine months.

That's nuts. That's a lot of traveling. Do you ever get burnt out? Absolutely. I mean, this is my 20th year, 20th year doing this. But I still love it because I can still win. And like I've said many times, like when I decide to retire, it's

when I know that I am going. I have to travel somewhere and I know I can't win. If I know I can't win, I'm out. Have you ever thought about retirement? Oh, yeah, I think about it all the time. I'm more paranoid about

when is that light switch going to go off where I don't have the skill set that it takes to compete against the young guys anymore. Like I still feel at my age, and results would show, that I am still on top of my game. But I know that one day father times undefeated And i'm i'm not going to be able to do it is good And i'm just I worry about waking up and that being the day Yeah, yeah, because a big thing in your sport is reaction time, right?

And as you age your brain slows down. Yes. Have you noticed that you've lost a little step? From reaction standpoint Um, I don't think so. I think I'm pretty sharp still on that. I think one of the things that forces NASCAR drivers out is vision at times, but my vision is still 2010. I mean, same as it's been ever since I was a kid. I wish I had that. It's really, really good.

I still have that, but I mean, I'm sure I'm slower than I was 10 years ago. But it's not enough that it's tenoring me on the racetrack. I never even thought about that vision being a factor for people aging out. That is interesting. Yeah. Yeah, because I'm like 2200. I'm like legally blind.

Wow. I'm thinking about LASAC man. 2010. Have you ever done it or thought about it? No, LASAAC scares me dude. It scares a lot of people. I know a lot of friends that I'm like, why don't you just get it? And they're just like, the fact that they're going to laser and take off the skin of my eye, it scares me.

I'm going to wait until some AI comes out or something. I just figured by now though that certainly the doctors have all got this thing down to a science where like the success rates gotta be. Success rate is high but then you hear stories of later on how they lose their eyesight again like 10, 20 years after and then what are you gonna do? You know? Like irreparable?

Like your vision keeps getting worse and worse but then you can't keep lasering it off. So, yeah. Okay. So it's not a permanent fix. Yeah, so I... Cause my mom got Lasik when she was my age and she's losing her vision again. See, that's, you know, me, I'm more looking up like

back issues, I have tremendous amount of back issues of being in a race car like I've been in. I've actually broke my spine in 2013 in a wreck. So I do more research on like what can fix my back and you know the things I need to do for that. So it's interesting to hear that like I think it's very simple. Oh you just get lasix and it's fixed and you're like no when you do real research it's like all kinds of things that like you you don't know and and I've had many doctors tell me when it comes to like my back they're

like yeah we think we can fix it but you're still racing so do you want to take the 2% chance that like your career is done you know wait until you're at least retired and then come in here and and get some work done yeah that pain is one of the most difficult pains to fix I heard. Yeah, it's just it's been nagging for me. My discs are degenerative, so you know a lot of the fluid out of the disc have dissipated. So it's just kind of bone on bone and if you think about how we drive in a race car like you know we... Hey guys, shout out to today's sponsor Kinsta. Running an online business is already a challenge. Your website hosting shouldn't make it harder and I've been there, dealing with slow load

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that have very little suspension at all. So, you know, the fastest way to make our cars go around the racetrack is to put them the lowest to the ground. Well if it's low to the ground the suspension has to be really really rigid and so it just constantly beats on your spine and it has for 20 years and it's taken a toll. So a lot of drivers probably struggle with back pain. They do yeah most most of the injuries you find with drivers are back pain and shoulder pain. I see on social media at least three or four drivers getting like shoulder surgery every single year. Holy crap. Have you had to get shoulder surgery?

I have. I've had two on the left side, one on the right side. Hmm. Yeah, surgery like a last resort for you? Are you trying to treat it naturally for the most part? For the most part, yeah. But you know, I ran two seasons ago with my rotator cuff just kind of torn off the bone. I didn't realize it was that bad. We thought it was just gonna be kind of a little clean up, microscopic thing. And he went in, when he went in there in December, he said, you know, you'll probably be a two week recovery and you're good. And it turned out to be a year. He opened me up and he was like, what did you do since our last scan?

Like he's like destroyed it. So yeah, that's the biggest thing. It's like too, I think about when you talk about retirement, like how long can my body go? Like I'm really, really beaten up in a lot of places. So that's gonna be a factor. Yeah, cause you see these pro athletes, they retire. And then some of them can barely walk 10, 20 years after.

You'll see when I leave here and I stand up, it takes me like 20, 30 steps to like really get my gate back. Holy crap. It's that bad already? You haven't even retired yet. No, no. We got to get you some stem cells or something. I know.

Dude. Yeah, Ronnie Coleman, like he can't even walk. It's sad man. Yeah, you see so many of these NBA players, right Nate? You can see like their bodies hunch forward. Yeah. Right? They kind of walk.

It looks like one leg is like stiffer than the other. That's how I feel when I walk is that on my right side, I can't bend as good as I can on my left. But it's because you know the disc, I have issues on that side. Yeah, basketball's tough on the knees. No doubt. I've actually torn both ACLs in basketball. I love playing recreational basketball.

So I have actually a league that'll run out of my house. I have an indoor basketball court down in my basement. That's sick. We have seven teams. We do a draft every year. We actually start our season this Thursday Wow, but I tore both ACLs one in 2010 one in 2014 Yeah playing brick basketball if you weren't racist. I love you be in the NBA. No, no, I'm terrible

I mean I say I'm terrible. I'm average for a you know mid 40 year old guy Who likes to play wreck ball, but you know in our draft, I mean, I'm a fourth rounder. So I used to be quite a bit higher, but all the injuries and getting older, I'm not as good as I used to be. I'm an outside shooter now. Have you ever scored against MJ? Ah, good question. I don't think so.

No. I went to a camp of his in Charlotte once. It was the crowd, it was it was might have been one of those moments where the crowd asked him if he could still dunk and he turned around and he did. I think I've seen that. Yeah. And so I went to a camp but never never played basketball with him. That's a once in a lifetime experience. Yeah. Gonna play against him. His passion has switched to racing now. Really? Obviously, we started this race team with him

five years ago, 2311 Racing, and he said many times that this fills my bucket. What's up guys? Shout out to RX Sugar, one of my favorite snack brands. About to try a flavor I've never had before before vanilla cream. Let's see what we got here Hmm that's solid that little vanilla is my favorite ice cream flavor definitely check them out guys are sugar Basketball did for much of my life. The racing aspect and the competition and the cars is what his dad got him into it when

he was a kid. His father used to take him and his brothers and sisters to NASCAR races when they were younger. He just loved the sport and started watching it every Sunday. That's essentially how we met. That's cool. Is I met him at a Charlotte Hornets game. I had court side seats.

I'm leaving to go to the restroom at halftime. He had his security guys come grab me. He said, hey, Michael would like to meet you. And from that point on, he got my number, started asking me all these questions about NASCAR. And I'm like, what? Wait a minute. What? You watched NASCAR and I'm like what wait a minute what what you watched NASCAR he's like dude I never missed every Sunday I'm I'm sitting in front of a TV watching NASCAR. That's surreal man. Yeah. You get to teach him some stuff about driving. Um so yeah he

actually had one time where he he wanted to get in the real simulator right like he obviously has a passion for fast cars, right? He drives all kinds of great cars. But he wanted to get in the Toyota simulator that actually we drive to get ready to race in. So we're not allowed to test at any racetracks in real life anymore. So what we do is we took that to simulation.

Just like a flight simulator for a pilot or what have you. And he got in it and he probably lasted 10 minutes. And he was like, it was out of time. My eyes, he's like, it's making me shake. Like, like it just, and they had to retrofit him to get in there in the first place. But they did. And he had a blast. But you know, we took him to get in there in the first place, but they did and he had a blast, but we took him to a pretty easy track and he's like, no, I got a new found respect for what you'll do. People don't know how hard it is unless they actually get out there on the track.

There's no question. I mean, there's no way a normal person could drive a NASCAR, first of all, not as fast as we can, but sustain the Gs, the temperature, all that stuff, it would just be too much. Yeah, I just found out the temperature right before this episode. I did not know it gets to 140 in that car.

Yeah, it can get on hot, hot days, upper 130s for sure, and it can sustain that for three and a half, four hours. Which is insane. It's, you know, just imagine going in a sauna, right? And it's all you can think about is trying to get out. No, I mean. We can't, we're in there for multiple hours.

So hydration, of course, is the biggest thing for us. Yeah, because I hit my red light sauna at 150 for like 30 minutes and I am drenched in a pool of sweat. So three hours at 130, 140, that's no joke. It's just, I think, you know, my body's just been so trained to do it now. That's why I say, you know, if one of my friends wanted to get in a car, they'd last 10 minutes. It's so hot. But I just think over the course of my life, my body has gotten used to being in that type of environment. Early on, did you get lightheaded in that environment?

Yeah, I mean, it was tough when I first started, you know, but the races were so much shorter now. You know, so NASCAR races are probably the longest of stock car races, but being three and a half hours. But when you're coming up through the ranks, you know, you're running 30, 40 lap races, not

300, 400 like we're running in NASCAR. So you kind of get eased into it by only being in there for 30 minutes or you know 40 minutes and then you know and on and on but it's a it's a very interesting thing you know what what people see every Sunday is cars going around in circles they have no idea is what makes that driver a little bit faster than that driver or that car a little bit better than that car and that car a little bit better than that

car and it's hundreds of people tons of engineers it's just it's a huge undertaking and the sport is way more technical than what it gets credit for yeah how much is it driver versus car like ah good question i think that's evolved over time i I believe that NASCAR was probably 60% car back in the day, 40% driver, because I used to be able to build trick cars. But over the last few years, they introduced what is called next gen car. It's essentially like a Lego set, right? But over the last few years they introduced what this is called next gen car. It's essentially like a Lego set, right? Everyone has to buy this same Lego set.

Now you can put it together any way you want, but we no longer can manufacture our own bodies or chassis or whatever. To save the team's money, they said, okay, here's the Lego set. Everyone has to buy it and you can put it together any you want but you know everyone has to run race the same car so now the driver probably means a little bit more just simply because we are all racing essentially the same cars even though they may look different on the outside you have a Ford a Chevy a Toyota it's essentially the only difference is the bodies in the engine wow I didn't know they made that change.

It's interesting. Were you in favor of that change? What did you think? Not really. You like the customized. I do. I think that the ingenuity like letting these teams use their ingenuitive minds to create an advantage

is what makes F1 so mesmerizing for me. It makes it fascinating for me to create an advantage is what makes F1 so, you know, mesmerizing for me. It makes it fascinating for me to see the technology of it and how it evolves in the aerodynamics where to me, like when you just kind of buy a car out of a box, it's like, okay, it's cool, it looks cool, but what makes your car cooler than the next? Yeah, it was more strategic back in the day. That's cool. It looks cool. But what what makes your car cooler than the next? Hmm. Yeah, it was more strategic back in the day

That's interesting Which race do you think about the most? From my career. Yeah from your career 2010 Homestead, Miami championship race I'm leading the championship standings on my way to my very first title and I championship standings on my way to my very first title. And, uh, I just, I let the pressure get to me. I let outside get to me too much.

Um, it's definitely the one race that I would take back in the sense of like. I took myself too seriously in that moment. I felt like I was, you know, only four years into my career. And, you know, I was racing against a guy, Jimmy Johnson, who had just won three or four championships in a row. It was down to me and him. And it's like, I was going to be the guy that unseeds him. And I just remember thinking, my style back then was that I used to have fun. I mean, there was definitely a weekend in my younger rookie career where if I raced

in Phoenix, I would go to Vegas the night before the race. You were partier? Yeah. And then I would come and race the next morning. Some Dennis Rodman stuff. I mean, but it's what kept me loose. It's what kept me you know loving it right but I just back so then I get myself in this title hunt and it's like okay no I need to lock myself in my hotel room and I needed to concentrate on this and look at that and I just took

it way too seriously and I didn't race loose. And instead I raced tight and I made too many mistakes and he won the title. Damn. So mentally you just weren't there. I just, yeah, I just let the pressure of this situation in the moment get to me, which I just wish I had that to do all over. Wow. And that was 14 years ago. Yeah. I still think about it. Yeah, it just I've had other opportunities to to win a title and it's been close, like really, really close comes down to the last race, the last restart.

But that was the one where I thought my car was better than him. I thought I was better than him, especially in that moment. And I just, I felt like I more gave it to him versus him winning it. Yeah. Chasing a title. a title, it's hard. It's hard. Only one guy, right? I mean, you know, that's the difficult part about our sport. I think some of the great drivers we've had in NASCAR, some of them have never won a title.

Myself included, I've got more wins than anyone in NASCAR that hasn't won a title. But doesn't mean that, you know, I view myself or my career less than. When they talk about the greats of the sport, they're going to go down the list of the winners. Who won the most races? Titles, I get it, but there's been people that's won 10 races their whole career, 12 races and won a title. Does that make them better than me? And I've won mid 50s.

I don't think so, but I think it's all up to whose opinions. Yeah, you know it is. That's in every sport though. They'll always be really great players like Charles Barkley in basketball. That's that comes to mind, right? Is there's there's great ones and there's you can probably mention many NBA players that won four titles and it's like what they were role players Yeah, they weren't the guy they weren't the guy right where we are the guy in our sport

And it's it's not a one verse one sport. It's a one verse 35 every week. So it I equate it to The PGA if you can win seven percent of the time you're you're fucking Hall of Famer, right? But we're in a losing sport more than we're in a winning sport So if you can win at that rate, like you're gonna win a lot Yeah, statistically 3% chance of winning with 36 guys, right? Yeah, it's it's it's small. It is small now I'm with a really good team and there's you know, I mean there's 25 30 good teams now Yeah, and that's grown over time, but it's more difficult to win now than ever.

Yeah. Yeah, I could see that. You playing a lot of golf these days? I like to. I certainly don't have as much time to play golf as I used to. I used to, you know, before I started the race team with Michael, you know, my weeks, you know, in between the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I could do whatever I wanted. Now those days are designated to, I need to, you know, I'm the owner of the team so I do

all the meetings, you know, whether it be from sponsorship, from the social digital side of things, everything, competition, I have my hand in everything there. So I have to do that Tuesday through Thursday. And then, you know, kind of the Monday and the weekend is all designated to being a driver itself. So it's a very interesting dynamic that I drive for one team and race against the team that I own. That is interesting.

Has that ever happened before to someone? Dale Earnhardt was the last one that did it. Okay. You know, that's been, you know, 30 years ago almost. So, yeah, he owned his own team. He drove for Richard Childress Racing and he owned DEI. And so this was never part of the plan for me to own a team before I actually retired.

But, you know, COVID happened and it ended up wiping out one of the teams. And I saw an opportunity there to like, hey, I can pick up wiping out one of the teams and I saw an opportunity there to like hey I can pick up the pieces here as long as I can get the funding I can get the right people to support me I this is something I can do now and so uh we made it happen and you know sitting at home for eight weeks straight being locked in I was like man if this is what retirement's like like I can't golf every day Yeah, so so like I need to come up with something else to do and you know I knew that my career You know I it's not over but like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

I need to figure out what I'm gonna do beyond Just being a race car driver, and I was like ownership is the right thing for me So we started this team do you prefer being an owner or driver right now? You know it's driver for me. So we started this team. Do you prefer being an owner or driver right now? You know, it's driver for me just because, you know, ever since I was a kid, I never dreamt to be a team owner. I dreamt to be a driver.

Right. And so all the goals that I want to accomplish, essentially, are right here in front of me. And I want to accomplish them for myself first because I've got decades as an owner to accomplish the other the other goals.

Yeah, I can win a championship as an owner and that would be very, very gratifying because, you know, you ever watch your kids do anything, you're always more proud of them is your own accomplishments. So I am more proud of the driver side of things now. And that's what I really want to accomplish. My perfect scenario every weekend is I win and my team cars finish two, three, four. That would be the perfect scenario. It hasn't happened yet.

We have finished one, two, but I think they've gotten the better of me more times than I've gotten the better of them head to head. Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah. But you know, I'm a driver, so I know talent when I see it and I've picked guys that I've liked, that I'm like, they're going to be good and we signed them long-term and now they're, yeah. How tough is that process? Cause they probably have other offers, right? From other teams.

They do. It's, you know, it's a free market essentially. I mean, it's, you know, there's free agency. These drivers have long-term contracts, but you know when they're essentially up. There's a handful of agents within NASCAR that know when the drivers are up. So you start shopping pretty early when you're looking to make a change. And, you know, Tyler Reddick, who went to the championship race last year for us, we signed him two years before his deal was even up.

And so he ended up, the team he was with got pissed off, kicked him out early. So we actually got him a year early, but we had to pay them for that. Interesting. Now you've had quite a few beefs and rivalries. Yes. Are you on speaking terms with any of these guys

or is the beef still there? No, I mean, I do. I have drivers that I don't prefer racing with or against, but we race against each other, like I said, 38 weekends a year. So, you know, and it's very difficult to keep a rivalry in NASCAR because we have what they call a motorhome lot. So, so we don't many people don't stay at hotels. They have a bus at the racetrack.

So. Then you've got the girlfriends are hanging out and the families are hanging out and our kids hang out. It's like, it's hard to keep it totally separate. Yeah. And you can be rivals on the racetrack, but then when you get back and you're like, oh, our kids are hanging out. It's like, this it's just friendly competition.

Yes. But it's still everyone for themselves and everyone's still really selfish as they should be. Right. Yeah. Because that was a problem like labeling you as a dirty driver. Right. Yeah. I mean, I think that I kind of got that because I got into run ins with some of the more popular drivers in NASCAR. With some of the more popular drivers in NASCAR one of the more the fanfare guys, you know the You know, maybe their dad raced and then you know They their fan base went over to them and then when I come in there and maybe I roughed them up Probably did you know, they don't like me and so that's fine And I've kind of taken on that heel the villain role the villain role within NASCAR over the last few years. You can monetize that.

You know, I I have found that it's not hurt me in any kind of way. That's actually tension, right? Yes, absolutely. You know, it comes down to, you know, who who on social media is, you know, getting the most views not not yeah not only

views but kind of engagement right you know there's some that that are top of our sport performance spot but they just don't move the needle in the social landscape and so yeah there's there's a balance there to be had no doubt yeah no that's a good point though in every sport you see the top athletes are a little scared to speak out sometimes and it's even more so in our sport because they've got a brand they're representing on their chest right and so when you have that they don't want you to be too far one way too far the other they want you to be right in the middle of the road right and so yeah they never really say anything controversial which which to each his own, but I just I'm at the

point of my career where it's like, I just I don't care. Have you lost sponsors because of what you said before? No, I definitely haven't. That's good. I had the best sponsor for the longest time FedEx was my sponsor for 20 years. It's the first year that they're not on the car. They, we're really at the mercy in NASCAR of the chief marketing officers of these big companies. Right. All it takes is for them to say, well, we want to take our media spend.

We want to spend more money in Europe. We need to get bigger in Europe. Right. So we're going to spend our money there. Right. And so that's the tough part about the NASCAR business model is that us teams are, you know, we're essentially professional fundraisers, right? We got to find people to fund this thing that we're doing, right? Because, you know, it's kind

of what we're fighting with with NASCAR right now is that, you know, can we get proper sharing to make it to where we're not so sponsorship dependent because I think NASCAR has a star problem, but it's because these guys are afraid to speak out because they know if they lose this, they're out. It doesn't matter how good they are. That's such a good point though, because the UFC fighters are not scared to speak out because Dana White will let them say whatever. I think that's really helped them in the star power. I think so too. I mean it's really

the sports great anyway but I think that the fact that they let their their athletes be themselves say what they want I mean I just think that people resonate with that. Yeah because I'm not gonna lie when I was a kid I remember hearing about NASCAR daily like on ESPN and everything and I would know the drivers but these days I feel like I don't hear about the drivers as much. Right. You know?

It's become so commercialized. It really has. It's just, it is a different sport now. It's still thriving. I mean, any given weekend, it's the first or second most watched sport every single weekend. Wow.

It has a core fan base that follows every single week But yeah, it's it, you know, we're definitely in a turning point where we've got to get this thing Better for everyone and get this thing growing. Yeah bigger and and I think globally is what's gonna happen next I think so. I'd love to see more you guys on podcasts and long for media I don't see too many of them speaking out, like you said. Yeah, I think it's it's been something they have been apprehensive to do. You know, I started my podcast just a few years ago.

Actions Detrimental. And ever since then, you know, the core fan base has followed us, you know, because I was the first one to really do it. And now you're starting to see others go on podcasts at least no one's you know not many are really starting one but again I think everyone's very very worried about saying something that's sensitive and then getting in trouble well yeah cuz you got fine for it right I did I did I've definitely gotten fine for things I've said on my

podcast but it's like so I can see why they're scared, you know? Yeah. That was a big fine too. That wasn't like a little. No, it's, you know, most of it was just admitting that I crashed into somebody on purpose. Yeah. Because he was getting on my nerves. He had gotten into me many times and I was like,

all right, screw it. I'm going down. I'm taking. I'm taking you with me, right? And so, you know, finally NASCAR was like, oh, that's probably pushing Yeah, do they bring deals to the teams or are you like in charge of bringing every single deal? Oh, that's that's a good one um I Haven't been aware of I can only speak for 2311 racing

Yeah, but I don't think NASCAR has brought us any sponsorship But I don't think NASCAR has brought us any sponsorship. It's on us to go out and find these deals. That's tough. Which, you know, that's what makes it very difficult and it's essentially what our team is fighting for, right? Is that we believe that there's enough money for everyone to be healthy. But since NASCAR is owned by a private family, they get to dictate the terms,

or they have dictated the terms, and we finally are pushing back on that. Because we have to raise so, to run a NASCAR car is $18 million a year. That's just kind of a, that's per car. That's insane. And we have three cars that we run, so we have to come up with a dramatic amount of sponsorship just to break even every year.

And again, it's it's like we're just paddling water every single year, hoping that these companies can continue to see value, which they have. We've got some great long term partners that have seen value in the program. And so I think NASCAR maybe has brought some other teams some deals or what not what not but not not ours. They're not that I'm aware of. Yeah, they're not obligated to do that. Right.

No, they're not obligated to. And really, it's tough because NASCAR, if NASCAR signs someone say it like their fuel partner or their tire partner, you can't go and get a competitor of theirs to sponsor your car. They lock you out of that category.

And so when it comes to the most important things when it has to do with cars is fuel and tires. We can't give you sponsorships. You're running through tires, right? Yeah, I mean, we, I think we probably pay about $700,000 a year. In tires? In tires. That's so crazy, man. And you're not allowed to get a sponsor for it because they have one?

Yeah, I mean Goodyear is the official provider of NASCAR tires, but we have to purchase them. They're not given to us. We have to purchase them. But that's an agreement that they have with NASCAR itself. And again, it's a category where we couldn't go get a Michelin to sponsor our car. You think the cars are going to shift towards electric over the next few years? I think the NASCAR fans will be very apprehensive to embrace that. I think that NASCAR fans are the ones that have been around for a very long time

and even the new ones. And I think even consumers themselves in street cars like to hear sound. 100%. I think that we've seen even in American culture itself that, man, there was a big push for electric and it's starting to come back a little bit

because for whatever reason, maybe they're seeing that it's not saving them as much money as they thought but I just think generally when people like to drive they like to hear noise yeah plus the refueling that'd be hard it takes so long to charge them I don't know how that would work yeah it's certainly you would think that it would shorten our races right and I think that NASCAR has always been very big on, you know, hitting this three hour, three and a half hour window. Yeah.

Can you make a car make ample amount of energy, you know, a thousand horsepower for three and a half hour? I don't think so. Not right now. No. My Tesla takes an hour to charge. Not a supercharger. Yeah.

So it just would take. I think it would. I think there's a place for it, but is it an exhibition series or something like that? But I think there's going to be a hard time convincing our race fans that, you know, you see cars going fast, but you don't hear them going fast. That's going to be a challenge. How often are you engaging with the fans?

All the time. Yeah, I mean mean all the time. I kind of had this rivalry with NASCAR fans. And it's just like where I've kind of leaned into the villain side of things. So I like to egg them on, especially when I win. Yeah. Do they get to you ever or you kind of just come to it?

No, I love it. When I go around for driver intros, so after they introduce us for our starting position, we get in a truck, we drive around the racetrack and they kind of parade us in front of the fans. And I mean, you'll know where I'm at on the racetrack by the, you hear the booze just kind of moving all the way around.

And so I just, I love hearing the noise. Like the worst thing ever for an athlete is when they call your name and people just clap mmm that's horrible nobody ever wants that yeah that means you're irrelevant I think that's you internalizing it because some people if they get booed that destroys them mentally right yeah I really eats with them I just think about how can I go back at them by winning and then saying something snark after the race Yeah, well the best success or the best way to like prove people wrong is success. Absolutely

You don't even that's what gets to him the most. Yeah, which one of your 54 wins is your favorite one? I've had a lot of good ones, but I would say 2016 Daytona 500. That's my very first Daytona 500 win. And it was in the closest finish in NASCAR history for that race. Wow. And so how I won it was just amazing. I fell back to fourth or fifth on the final lap and then found a way to weave through the cars. That last lap to win by probably that much.

That was special to me. And then my team allowed me to keep the car. So like I have this kind of my media room or kind of my guys room and I have my glass, my garage is all glassed in. I have my Daytona 500 winning garage is all glassed in I have My Daytona 500 winning cars sitting essentially kind of my look that's awesome. Yeah, that's iconic What's your favorite stage of the race beginning middle or end? I? like the end simply because like by the time you get to the end

Young drivers, you know sometimes have messed up here. They've taken themselves out. But like you see Who has managed the race the best by the end by the time we get to the third stage of the race? So always the end the track changes. I mean people ask all the time and don't you get bored? You just go in circles. I said The only way I can equate this is that every time I go down the straightaway I'm trying to figure out how to take this corner faster than I just took the previous. And all the while, the track is getting hotter, it's getting more rubber laid down on it, and I'm having to adjust my line to optimize how my car makes that corner.

And when I try a different line, I analyze it going down the next straight, while analyze it, was that better, was that worse? And I try to approach a different way when I go into the next one. So we just do that over and over and over. And then when you're trying to overtake somebody, it's, you know, okay, now I got to run, they're running the line that I was running the fastest.

How can I now make time in a different line to pass them? So it's constantly a chess game. Yeah, because you don't have time to be bored. You're constantly thinking and no one present moment. I mean, it goes by really quick in my seat. It just takes a long time when you're watching. Right. Yeah. 500 laps. Right. If the track is small, it's 500 laps.

You know, like out here in Vegas, you're looking at probably a 260 lap race because it's a mile and a half track. Okay, wow. That's nice, man. Well, Denny, it's been awesome. What do you got next? Where can people find your podcast to keep up with you? Yeah, it's on all platforms.

Action is detrimental. Denny Hamlet comes out every Monday afternoon and what we try to do is get out of the race car and if I can go straight in the studio and kind of download, that's what I'll do. But otherwise I'll wake up early Monday morning, kind of talk about the race, how my race went, kind of analyze what you saw on TV, maybe what you didn't see on TV that I saw from the driver's seat. And we break that all down.

I love it, man. Check them out. We'll link below. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for watching guys. See you appreciate