Denny Hamlin was never in a vengeful mood. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran went through several hurdles on Sunday to clinch his season’s fourth victory. He navigated through a 56-minute rain delay and twin overtime restarts. Then, two extremely ambitious teammates never let Hamlin rest throughout the race. Naturally, when Ty Dillon got in his way while pursuing NASCAR’s Bracket Challenge, Hamlin looked at it as a nuisance.
Ty Dillon’s race antics were not the only factor nagging Denny Hamlin. Having been the No. 1 seed for the tournament, the latter regretted getting eliminated in the very first round. However, Hamlin has a merciful attitude and eventually did not hold anything against Dillon.
Denny Hamlin dissects his Dover dilemma
Ty Dillon had a Cinderella story right from the get-go. He was paired up with Denny Hamlin in Atlanta and beat the latter despite having the worst seed (No. 32). He went viral among NASCAR fans after using Hamlin’s infamous ‘I beat your favorite driver’ line against him. However, Hamlin eagerly invited that play of words, congratulating Dillon on his feat. Then the Kaulig Racing driver extended his streak by knocking out Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, and eventually John Hunter Nemechek in Dover. While racing the latter, Dillon was in a tight-knit battle till the last lap – he finished 20th, just one spot better than Nemechek. Hence, Dillon got a little aggressive around the restarts, and that is where he crossed paths with Hamlin.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver hurled expletives at Ty Dillon after a green-flag pit cycle. Denny Hamlin found it difficult to regain his lead in the face of Dillon’s ambition. He explained in an ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode: “I knew that he was racing for the Lucky Dog. He knows that I am the leader on the time, he wants to stay on the lead lap. Yeah, he’s fighting tooth and nail with everything he can.
At the moment, I was just pissed off that we just lost the lead.” However, Hamlin forgave Dillon for his actions: “I don’t know, probably I’m alright with it, generally speaking now. Like, even 10 minutes later, I was fine with it.”
Then, Denny Hamlin proceeded to explain exactly why Dillon’s antics got on his nerves. He explained, “The worst case scenario for you as a leader when you come in to pit and you come out, say you’ve run 3, 4, 5 laps, and then somebody that was running at the back comes out, they got fresh tires and they’re right in front of you. So what happens is, they’re not the same speed as you when you’re on equal tires. Or when they have fresh tires and you have old tires, it now equals out your speed, and you’re now stuck behind this person. Because of the way it works out, right?… They just pulled up in front of me; they’re slower than I am, and now they’re gonna hold me up on fresher tires.”
Eventually, Denny Hamlin masterfully knocked out all the obstacles in his path, including Ty Dillon’s fierce drive. In the process, he reignited a conversation, but he is not so bothered.
Hamlin shrugs at elusive career milestone
For Denny Hamlin’s age, he is doing a lot of things that no other NASCAR driver can dream of doing. Outside the racetrack, the veteran is juggling multiple duties. He dealt with the loss of his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, and also sponsorship woes during the off-season. The ongoing distraction of a major NASCAR lawsuit and the responsibility as the father of a third child were additional sources of stress. Despite all these factors, Hamlin still manages to be as fast as ever on the racetrack. After his Dover victory, Hamlin is now the season wins leader. But he has hardly been mentioned as a possible championship contender. Over two decades of his career, Hamlin has failed to achieve a championship.
Being 44 years of age, this might be his last chance to clinch a Cup Series title. However, Denny Hamlin scoffed at his own chances considering his failure in the in-season tournament. “We couldn’t even make it (past the) 32nd seed in a bracket…It’s a tough format. When you shorten your seasons into three races, fricking anything can happen. I try not to just (say), ‘Oh, we’re going to do it this year.’” At the same time, 58-time race winner Hamlin is also not bothered with a different goal in his mind. “If we do, we do. If we don’t, we don’t. I care about wins. I want more trophies, more trophies, more trophies. When I’m done, I want to be in the top 10 of all-time winners. That will mean more than any other accomplishment I could have.”
Clearly, Denny Hamlin is not letting any regrets or upsets cloud his mind. The veteran’s goals are clear despite facing Ty Dillon’s ambitious drive on Sunday.
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