Denny Hamlin joked that he’s the ‘king of irrational confidence’ after returning to victory lane in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Collection race at Martinsville.
Hamlin put in a dominant efficiency within the seventh spherical of the season, main greater than half of the 400 laps within the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to win the race by almost 5 seconds.
It marked the Florida-born driver’s sixth victory on the 0.5-mile brief monitor, however his first on the venue since 2015. It was additionally his first triumph with new crew chief Chris Gayle, who took over the operating of the automobile at first of the 12 months.
Hamlin is now 44 years outdated and needed to tackle questions on retirement on the finish of the 2024 season by which he completed eighth within the standings with three wins.
Requested if there was ever some extent within the final 12 months when he thought he wouldn’t be capable to rating one other win, he stated: “No. I imply, I most likely am the king of irrational confidence.
“I imply I do know that once I bought the automobile to do it, I will be the most effective, so…
“I haven’t felt like I’ve held again the automobile at any level. Actually, I’m not proof against understanding that Father Time is undefeated.
“Every thing that I have to be good to be a race automobile driver continues to be actually sharp. I really feel prefer it hasn’t occurred but. It should, however not but.”
Hamlin’s Martinsville success marked his fifty fifth profession victory within the Cup Collection, placing him stage with Rusty Wallace within the listing of NASCAR drivers with most race wins.
The JGR driver, who additionally co-owns 23XI Racing, admitted that he values every victory extra now that he’s within the twilight years of his profession.
“Sure, that’s a giant one for positive. Actually, you study to understand them a bit of bit extra,” he stated.
“I don’t know while you’re simply in your 30s or one thing, you bought such a protracted runway forward of you, you’re all the time interested by, ‘we’ll go win subsequent week, the week after that, the week after that.’
“Actually nevertheless many races I’m going to win between now and the top, I’m going to worth them just a bit bit extra simply from perspective, from knowledge that you’ve, understanding the worth of it, how arduous it’s to do. I don’t all the time have my children right here. I believe it’s been a couple of years since they had been in Victory Lane.
“Having all of it come again at this monitor, the place it was 10 years in the past, 55, the place Rusty Wallace bought his fifty fifth. I’ll have time to let all that stuff digest, however within the second it’s actually superior.”
Throughout his post-race celebrations, Hamlin held up a flag that learn ‘11 towards the world’ – the images of which circulated broadly on social media.
Requested to clarify the which means behind that flag, he stated: “My buddies, my Ohio State followers that I frolicked with on the finish of final 12 months, we all the time had the ‘Ohio State towards the world’. So now it’s ’11 towards the world’.”
