Denny Hamlin has been competing in the Cup Series for the past two decades. In all of his time at the top level, he has been a championship contender in all seasons except one. Sadly, he has always come so close, yet he is so far from winning a Cup title. With 54 career wins, though, Hamlin has definitely established himself as a top driver in his own right.

However, the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver happens to be very self-critical. He recently spoke to former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace and opened up about a driver’s X factor. In other words, he spoke of what sets him apart from his rivals and makes him so good on the track. Frankly, so many athletes in various sports have that little something extra that sets them apart from others.

The same applies to NASCAR, which is why we have legends like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson. After all, they had that X factor that led them to seven Cup Series titles each. That kind of spark is there in every champion, but there are some drivers who never quite won the title but still possess that spark. Hamlin is definitely one of those drivers, even if he tries to deny it, and another is Mark Martin, the greatest driver to never win a title.

Did Denny Hamlin just play the humility card?

Truthfully speaking, some athletes can be chalked up into two categories. Some of them could have a God-given talent that makes them incredibly successful. On the other end of the spectrum, some athletes work hard to get where they are and achieve success in that manner. Neither way is considered the wrong way if we’re being honest, but Denny Hamlin appears to favor the latter methodology.

On the 11th July episode of Kenny Conversations, as Denny Hamlin sat down (officially on KC) for the first time, he told Kenny Wallace, “It’s such a hard question because, I think the way that maybe you and my fans, might see things. They think that I’ve just been able to do this at a high level all the time. I think I was very average on talent, I just think I worked really, really, hard to get better.”

Further answering what made the likes of Jeff Gordon so great, and revealing what makes him different than others in terms of choices as he ran those exceptional races on the track. “You can agree or disagree with that, I can see both sides of the argument. I just know that when I typically put more work into being better, it didn’t always come from data or analytics. That just came around and NASCAR and the upper ranks, really in a big way over the last 5-6 years,” he added.

In essence, Denny Hamlin thought that he did not possess any God-given talent, not that he knew of. Instead, he admitted that he prefers to work for his success and truly earn it. Judging by his statistics, the #11 driver is well on his way to earning his accolades in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver revealed a few tricks of his trade

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Hamlin revealed that he used to study a few of the best short trackers he knew. The JGR star mentioned drivers like Eddie Johnson, Phil Warren, Wayne Patterson, and Roy Hendrick. He even went as far as to list off some of their best tactics, like Johnson’s tire conservation, Warren’s qualifying prowess, and more.

In time, Denny Hamlin began emulating and borrowing that technique. Then he began adapting those techniques into his driving style. By his admission, he was not a fast driver, but he worked towards building his speed. Once again, he played the humble card and declared that there are Cup drivers more talented than him, who have fewer wins.

However, he observed that their racecraft will always vary. A lot of it can be chalked up to the drivers’ work ethic or even time constraints. Though he did confess that the two can be mutual, according to him, there are still other drivers who don’t have the opportunity to be in a top ride. Denny Hamlin himself was lucky to land Joe Gibbs Racing, right from the start, but there may be drivers who are just as good, but lack the equipment.