Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Saturday prior to qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
How do you go out and win a championship with all that’s going on off track?
“I think it’s pretty simple. Just need to prepare the best you can and do the best you can on Sunday. I think, you know, it’s more of a question for my team and I would ask them ‘has your driver never not been prepared? Has he never given 100%?’ Never. I’ve certainly talked about it, probably a year or so ago when it came down to this and I became more comfortable with what the result was. No matter what, whether I win a championship or not, I’m going to make sure I can sleep at night knowing that I gave it my all for my team. Certainly, there’s been some circumstances over time that I haven’t been able to control, but to not let those situations affect me. Certainly, this is a situation I can control and I give the team the proper preparation and make sure that when I get in the race car on Sunday, they know through my actions on the track that I’m 100% in it and focused.”
What has been the reaction with the current lawsuit of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v. NASCAR?
“You know, I feel like the reaction has been positive on our end. Of course, I think that (pause). My Jordan (Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI Racing) sent me an awesome clip from ‘The Moneyball,’ where John Henry was saying ‘the first one through the wall always gets bloodied.’ But, in the end, it’s because you’re threatening the status quo and threatening people’s jobs and things like that. I hope it’s not seen that way, just seeing that this is certainly an opportunity for us to try to promote change in the sport that’s positive for everyone. And that’s teams, drivers, fans, everyone. I feel like, certainly on our end, that’s actually been good for me. This is not like just one day, we woke up and said ‘this is going to happen.’ This has been on the plate for a while. And certainly, from my standpoint, it’s provided more relief for me to put more focus on the No. 11 car and everything I have to do there since it’s out, done and now there’s other people out to speak on it, from the legality standpoint.”
How do you go about the lawsuit situation where it doesn’t become a lose-lose situation for all sides?
“Yeah, I’m not really sure and can’t speak to that part of it. I think it’s been stated in statements by Michael Jordan that he loves NASCAR. We’ve obviously invested heavily in NASCAR and reinvested what I got out of this sport as a driver back into it as an owner. Certainly, we love the sport, just would love to see change as well.”
With all the financial commitment 23XI Racing has made to the sport, do you think it’s been appreciated by the other side?
“Probably not.”
— Toyota —