Last Sunday’s race at Pocono was probably one of the most memorable and happening races of the season so far. The Tricky Triangle, infamous for the crashes, saw a few others and a little bit more. It was the 50th Cup win of a Joe Gibbs Racing driver and with that, a record was set, and a tie was broken.
No one had won more races at the 2.5 miles long raceway than Jeff Gordon and Hamlin until last Sunday. But Denny Hamlin broke the tie while bagging his 7th win at the track. Whether you are for or against the Toyota Camry star, you cannot just ignore the fact that he has changed his stance on racing in recent times. He has gotten bolder, better, and just unstoppable.
Denny Hamlin on becoming the trickster of the “Tricky Triangle”
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In a recent episode of Rubbin’ Is Racing, NASCAR enthusiasts Large and Spider have a conversation with the JGR star. The conversation started in a light mood, with Spider making fun of Large’s head and all three laughing about the same. Halfway through the podcast, Large congratulated the #11 driver and asked him the secret behind his easy-looking wins at the Pocono raceway.
“What is it about that place that you make it your b***h?” he asked.
Denny smiled and owed all his gratitude to the team that he is a part of. He felt like winning is a collective responsibility and that without the support of his crew, he would have never managed to seize the day.
“It’s such a clichéd thing and I know it sounds bad, but it is an indication of where your team is at. Like you gotta have a fast car, you gotta have a good engine, your aero’s gotta be good, your strategy gotta be good, and the driver’s got to do his part,” he said.
Indeed, in a sport where there are so many factors that decide the winner or the loser, it is not just the man behind the wheel who should get all the credit.
He acknowledged, “I only have one element of that I have to do, and the rest is up to the team. So, I think I’ve been really lucky to be with a fast team for most of my career.”
As the discussion continued, the 42-year-old shed light on why he has adapted to this aggressive style of driving and how it has affected his performance on the track.
Denny Hamlin embraces the villain arc
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The co-owner of 23XI Racing has been crashed into several times before. For instance, consider the Coca-Cola 600; Chase Elliott intentionally wrecked the Toyota driver. In the podcast, Hamlin recalled all his experiences of being on the receiving end and now he thinks changing the style is the only way to get him more wins.
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“You know what, I just got to change my style and if it means that I have to be more aggressive on the racetrack to get more wins that’s what I have to do…”
When Large asked Hamlin about what he thought of the fans booing and raising the obnoxious middle finger at him on social media, he was rather calm and said, “Fans, I understand, they don’t see or think clearly, the results of this weekend was that there was a winner and there was a loser and if you were on the losing end, you have to assign the responsibility to someone, and for them it was to point the finger and assign that responsibility to me.”
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Read More: Denny Hamlin Discloses How Wronging Chase Elliott Triggered Worst Crowd Reception at Popular Track
Denny Hamlin’s way of driving now displays the nuances of a high-speed sport like NASCAR racing. He understands that the probability of a collision is high when every car is fighting for that one spot in the victory lane. Do you like the new ‘Rowdy’ version of Denny Hamlin more?