Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Denny Hamlin Opens Up About Emotional Vegas Win and Passing Kevin Harvick on All-Time Wins List

Episode Date: March 16, 2026

Denny Hamlin reflects on his emotional NASCAR Cup Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the personal meaning behind the win after a difficult offseason following the loss of his father, and what it means to move past Kevin Harvick on the all-time NASCAR wins list while continuing to build his legacy in the sport. In this episode of Victory Lap on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kaitlyn Vincie sits down with Hamlin to discuss the significance of the win, how his team executed late in the race, why this moment meant so much to him personally, the early-season success of 23XI Racing, and what he expects heading into the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The names on the list of the people that I'm on now, these are heroes and legends of our sport that just idolized. I can't remember another time where I've had everyone there for race wins. With 61 of them, it just doesn't happen that often to do it at Vegas early in the seasons. It's all just an adableness. Hey, everybody, welcome into the Victory Laugh. I'm Caitlin Vinci. And so great to have our Las Vegas winner, Denny Hamlin, joining us on the show. Great to see you.

And what a hard fought win, I might add, had to battle. back from a speeding penalty. What was that race like from your vantage point? It was fun from my vantage point because we were so fast. It made it very enjoyable from my perspective to, you know, be able to maneuver whenever I needed to pass generally at will. I mean, those are the things you dream about as a race car driver. And, you know, while it would have been fun or certainly an easier day to just lead all the laps. It was quite fun coming from the back. Now, have we not won, I would have been kicking myself and all week about not winning a race that we clearly should have.

But I'm glad it does make it more gratifying for me knowing that we had that drive to the front that made it very fun as a race car driver. And obviously it's been well documented, everything that's gone on in your life over the last couple of months. So was this win more satisfying in some ways compared to others in your career? Yeah, you know, my favorite win is the 60th. That one for many, many reasons, was very high on the list because of all the added bonuses to winning that race and obviously, you know, Ty and Kevin and whatnot. This one's a little different just simply because it's like a repeat of the 60th, only I had everyone there.

So, you know, luckily the kids had their spring break during this time. So I don't, you know, they, I don't know that they ever make it to any West Coast races. My mom never really travels to any West Coast races, but she had her sister there. They were on a, doing a trip. So, you know, it was very, I can't remember another time where I've had everyone there for a race win. And so even with 61 of them, it just doesn't happen that often. And to do it at Vegas early in the season, it's all just an added bonus. You've been very candid about your humble beginnings, your path through the sport.

Did you ever think you would be in this position with 61 wins in the Cup Series and where you're sitting right now in the all-time win list among the sports greats? Is that surreal for you? Yeah. No, it's, it's as likely as likely is it, as it was it, was you thinking when we were talking at Langley that you'd be in your position, right? So it's just, it's just, no, I cannot imagine, I mean, the names on the list of the people that I'm on now, these are heroes and legends of our sport that just idolized for all of my career

and even before my career when I was just a race fan. So very humbled by it, very blessed to be with the team I am that's given me the opportunity to go out and showcase it. So no, it just, it just, I have to remind myself daily that I'm in the position I'm in. You're definitely one of the sports greats, no question about it. So you referenced winning early, obviously, at Las Vegas. What does that do for the whole team, just already having these results? Yeah, I can tell you, I've had many seasons that I've won most of the seasons.

but the ones that I haven't won until like mid-summer, maybe even the fall, it just, I don't know, that the pressure builds slightly when you don't win early. When you win early, and I talked about it as the owner for 2311 when Tyler won his three in a row, that this allows them to just run free and not have the pressure. They had the pressure of not winning last year. And as the year went on, it just continued to build as, uh-oh, is this going to be a, year you don't win. And certainly at my age, I'm just waiting on the light switch to go off of when it, you know, I'm not going to have the skill set that I had yesterday or the or the month before.

But it just, it reminds me early that you still got it. And so it gives me that confidence now that, you know, nothing has really changed in the offseason. Things while they might have slowed down, they haven't slowed down inside that race car. One thing that didn't change is you're pairing with Chris Gale. That relationship kind of came together quickly a year ago or so. But where is the chemistry at in year two? Just so happy for him. I mean, I'm as happy for him as I am for myself in these accomplishments.

Just, you know, the guy has been in the Cup series for a very long time now. And just he hadn't had the experienced guy that kind of knew what he wanted, right? he was always kind of bringing someone up that was very young, highly talented, but just was trying to find their way. And that is a very, very difficult place to be as a crew chief, because you're also trying to be a mentor. Chris is not trying to mentor me in any kind of way. He just says, what do you need? I tell him, he believes it, never questions it, and he just goes to work and fixes it. So that's what makes the relationship work so well, is that, you know, he believes in the directions that I send them and we get results from it.

It's a pairing that works well. Another pairing that seems to work well is you and Michael Jordan. I haven't had a chance to ask you about the success yet of 2311 so far this season. Michael, very honest, saying you are the brains of the operation, giving you a lot of credit for the team. How special has it been for you on the owner's side to do what you've done this year? Well, I mean, I could easily give that praise right back to him and his team. And it's not just him.

He has guys like Curtis Polk and Gene Mason behind the scenes that work with me day to day. You know, we consult and we confer on everything. A lot of the big decisions. And they're also ones that have had a lot of input on the direction of this team. So I really feel happy about where that team is at and where it stands. the partnership between the majority owners and me and Michael is perfect because he believes on me. He gives me the autonomy to advise him on the correct decisions. We all then confer, and sometimes we agree, sometimes we don't, but it's most of the time,

it's all them saying, if you think this is right, this is what we're going to do. And this is the direction that we're going to spend our resources. Here's what we're going to invest in. And it's all worked. And so to see that team really start to put themselves in the upper echelon, and the elite company of these teams that have been around for decades, winning all the races, that's where we aspired to be. It's been really special to watch that team coming into their own.

The next challenge for everybody is Darlington this weekend. You've won there a lot five times, to be exact. What are the keys to winning at such a challenging place? Well, what's going to be challenging this time around is all the unknowns. We have less downforce, more horsepower. So the added 60 to 80 horsepower that we have is going to feel like 200. I know everyone's been pounding the drum. Give me a thousand horse power.

Give me 900, whatever it is. Oh, we're going to have all that we want this weekend. So the unknowns and the challenges are going to be, how are we going to grip the racetrack? because we got an outer body of the car that doesn't produce much downforce. So it's going to be a very mechanical grip type of racetrack, which means eventually those tires are going to wear out because all the load is going through it, not necessarily the downforce of the car. So the challenge is going to be is all the unknowns.

This is essentially going to be like all the teams going to a new racetrack. I do not think any of the notes that you have from years past will correlate. And so I think somebody will hit it. And I think that they're going to absolutely crush the field. I just hope that it's us. Well, it's going to make it very interesting for all of us watching. Denny, congratulations on 61 wins in the Cup series, a historical weekend for you.

Great to see you and good luck in Darlington. All right. Appreciate it. Thank you.