Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Denny Hamlin Interview following win at Dover | VICTORY LAP

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

Fresh off his Cup Series win at Dover, Denny Hamlin joins Kevin Harvick for this week’s Victory Lap. Denny breaks down the final laps at Dover, how he got it done, and what it meant to bounce back after a week off to welcome his new child. Denny also shares what it’s been like balancing fatherhood and racing, how it felt returning to the track, and whether or not a trip to the Dover casino was part of his victory celebration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I struggled there for 13 years. You do not drive this thing like you drive any other oval. How you make speed here is different than it is at any other track that is remotely similar. Well, Denny Hamlin, thanks for taking the time this morning back in Victory Lane again. What were those last few restarts like? I thought for sure you were dead in the water when they threw that last caution and restarted the race after the rain. Yeah, I thought realistically,

chances when it rained. First thing I did, I got out, I looked at the radar and I says, okay, this thing's going back green. I need to prepare myself in this moment for that to happen. So just, you know, it's a little bit of work, try to make sure I was prepared for it. But I thought the chances, truthfully, were 50-50 on whether I was going to, you know, actually leave there with the win. You know, just because of all the variables that can happen on restarts, you know, and I knew at that point we were going to stay out on older tires. I knew that new tires, you know, where are they going to restart? They're going to start beside me, behind me, a couple rows behind me, how many restarts

there are going to be? All those variables you just never know. And I think it's, you know, such a 50-50 proposition. And it very well could have ended up a different way, had a few circumstances been different. So you've won there in all different kinds of cars. we saw a new tire this weekend. The next gen car is, I mean, it's a totally different race from what it was with the previous generation car.

Did you think they made ground with the tire this weekend with everything they changed or was better, worse? It wasn't worse. It was just a baby step. I mean, you know, it didn't feel that different from my standpoint. The lat times were very, very similar to what it was before. Laptime falloff was, I think, somewhat similar. So I think it was just a baby step, truthfully.

And they didn't do any testing. That is probably the hardest track to do any kind of tire testing at anyway. So, you know, it was more of a trial by fire. Throw it out there. And maybe this, you know, less good you know that maybe we can go another step yet in the future. So this track has been good for you, no matter what you've driven. And what do you like about Dover? What kind of fits your style?

I mean, this week you guys had good strategy, but you got it done at the end by doing what you needed to do. What fits your style so good over the years at Dover? You know, I don't know that it really fits my style just simply because I struggled there for 13 years or so, right? And, you know, at the very beginning, I felt as though, okay, well, Jimmy's doing it this way, but he has a car that can do it that way.

And my car can't do that. And then I was kind of blessed to have Martin Truex as a teammate. And in the same car as I was, able to do the same things Jimmy was able to do. And at that point, I'm like, okay, so it's not the car. It's the driver and their approach. And, you know, as you know, while this looks very straightforward, when you look at this track from the overhead and it looks very symmetrical and it's just a normal oval, you do not drive this thing like you drive any other oval.

It's just the way the load of the car is, how you make speed here is different than it is at any other track that is remotely similar in size or length or banking. So it just had to wrap my head around how they make speed and it changed my style based off of that. And once I started doing that, I had a lot of success. Well, you talk about success. and we've seen the success off the racetrack with the with the casino life did did did we step in the

casino this weekend i didn't see any any uh spectacular post so if you did it it didn't work out good no i i didn't my mom my mom took over the the gambling in the casino for this week so she's the one she actually she did play penny slot won 1 1 1,800 bucks so i talked penny slot yeah oh my god that's all she that's all she plays so Yeah, that's fun. All I was thinking about is like, man, if I was playing my increments, man, I would have been a big win. Yeah, the penny slots might be dialed in a little bit different. So you've gone through the whole year and I don't remember anybody else taking paternity leave for a week.

But you got a new household member. Another baby in the house. How's that going for you? Is it kind of an eye-opening again to have a? have a young newborn child in the house? It is. And, you know, just I've forgotten the process. And I'm not even the one doing all the work.

So my job, truthfully now is just wrangle up the others. So they're not a burden to her while she's doing all the baby work, right? So that's my main focus is making sure the other two kids are taking care of. Their dinner's made and just getting them dressed, getting their teethbrush, doing all the things that they need to do, and then give her the time that she needs with Jameson. So that's primarily my thing. He's doing fantastic. You know, it's just, yeah, it's a great addition and certainly a welcome distraction in my world right now. So are you on, are you a diaper changer or are you just no diapers for you?

Okay. No, I definitely change, yeah. Okay, good, good. Well, I can't wait to hear the, it's like I tell you. Stewart, I can't wait to hear when you're stuck alongside the road and he craps up his back or something. Well, I'll tell you, Kevin, one thing I've learned in this process, and you probably found out, is that the boys are a little sensitive. And so they typically will give you a little fountain as you're trying to change them,

or the girls is pretty much straightforward, right? Once they go, they go and you change them and we're good. But the boys, oh, no, you've got to cover up the cat there. and make sure you don't make a bigger mess than what they started with. Yeah, I've definitely been, yeah, definitely had the fountain go off before. That's for sure. So we've got one more week left in the end-season challenge. This was ultimately, in my opinion, your brainchild here.

How do you think it's gone? A lot of other storylines that talk about and who's going to win? Well, I mean, if I'm taking it from an analyst standpoint, this racetrack is going to be very, very hard for, Ty Dillon. I think, you know, I think it's been implemented really well. I think that NASCAR's done a good job of kind of, you're taking this and running with it. It's all I really asked them for in this whole beginning when we had these discussions like, you know, I don't want anything for this. Just do it. Like, we've got to be able to dominate these summer months on TV. And I think certainly it's a good

added storyline to our series. It's also great for people like Tyler's. It's also great for people like Dylan, right? That otherwise, there's no way we'd be talking about him in really any way, shape, or form over these last four or five weeks, but he's managed to upset the favorites that he's been going against. And so it's created those storylines. It certainly would be a big deal to either one of these teams. Would love to see them, you know, if they did this next year, switch up the racetracks. You know, I don't know necessarily from an entertain standpoint. Do you want to knock out all your favorites in a Super Speedway race right off the bat? that pretty much trashes everyone's brackets.

Like, we're not even talking about brackets anymore, right? It's more talking about these head-to-head. So if I were in charge, that would be the next step is kind of refining the tracks in which that you have in it. But overall, I've been very happy with it. It's certainly been compelling from my standpoint. I had a front row seat at Sonoma, Thai shipping Alex out of the way or there in the final corner. So I think it's going to be compelling.

It has been compelling. It's made 18th place battles mean something. So I've been very happy to see how that's all worked out. I just think Ty Dillon's run. Now, Ty could step on it this weekend, but I just think this racetrack, you're not going to have the chaos. I don't think that you would have at a normal oval.

And so I think he's got a big uphill climb. But it's possible. I mean, the guy's been wearing the slipper, and he's got another seven days to wear it. Yeah, it's been fun to watch. And like you say, very intriguing for spots in the race that we would never talk about. We are on a roll, man.

Keep it up. I know you've got five weeks left here in the regular season, and you guys will be headed towards a playoff run. So keep it up, and hopefully we talk to you again soon. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, appreciate it. Thank you.