“Denny Doesn’t Like Cheerleaders”: Denny Hamlin’s Crew Chief Reveals What He Had to Say to Get Joe Gibbs’s 600th Win

Denny Hamlin is one of the most prominent names in the realm of NASCAR. For the second straight year, this man has passed the Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for the maximum number of wins at the triangular track in Pennsylvania. With his 7th win at the infamous Pocono Raceway, the Chesterfield native entered the record book.

In the post-race interview, Hamlin’s crew chief sat alongside the #11 Toyota driver and reflected on the words that he radioed to the latter as he entered the penultimate restart.

Hamlin gave Toyota its 600th NASCAR victory and Chris Gabehart is as happy as the man behind the wheel

The Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief for Denny Hamlin said that, although the 23XI co-owner was focused solely on the vibration of the car, he just wanted to remind Denny how important this race was and how crucial that moment was for him. This victory sure meant a lot to him, especially after NASCAR disqualified him from the winner’s spot after last year’s race at the “Tricky Triangle.”

When a reporter asked Chris Gabehart about those final moments when he felt the need to come over the radio and inspire him, he said,

“I don’t know. Denny doesn’t like cheerleaders; he’ll tell you that. I think, every now and then, focus is required of anyone. I say that because these moments are so hard to get to. To even have an opportunity to compete for a win, let alone all those things we just mentioned, all those metrics, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“If I spend every minute of my day in that manner, it’s never going to mean something. When I step up and say it, that clearly because it’s always level-10 cheerleading. I just wanted to focus him on the moment and just remind him of how important the moment was,” he added.

However, hatred followed Denny Hamlin in the victory lane as he supposedly nudged his friend on lap 153.

Fans greet Denny Hamlin’s victory at Pocono with boos after he apparently dirtied up his friend

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Hamlin reached his 50th win mark after the race on Sunday. But it did not come with a clean chit. In Stage 3 of the race, he appeared to be involved in a tussle with Alex Bowman. Despite not making any contact with him, the #48 driver was definitely not happy with the way Hamlin raced him.

A few laps after the incident, Hamlin seemed to have pushed Kyle Larson which made the latter run into the wall. A caution flag emerged shortly after, and being visibly frustrated at this move, the HMS star ran up to him and tried to push him into the wall. During the post-race interview with Frontstretch, Larson recalled Hamlin pushing Ross Chastain in the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2022 and said that he got nervous about how it had worked last year.

“I deserved to be raced with respect at least through Turn 1, but he knew it was going to be his opportunity to beat me, how bad or dirty it was, so I got used up,” an unhappy Larson said.

The crowd booed at Hamlin but he was unapologetic, as according to him, both Bowman and Larson had wrecked themselves. When asked how he felt about all the booing, he said,

“They can boo my rock out here in two years,” and walked away smiling.

Read more: Denny Hamlin: Net Worth 2023, Family, Twitter Controversy, and More