Denny Hamlin certainly has a lot of spinning plates in his life right now.
Driving the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs takes one amount of time. Being the co-owner of 23XI Racing and its stable of drivers Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, both are also in the Playoffs, takes another amount of time. Hosting the podcast of “Actions Detrimental” on Dirty Mo Media takes another chunk of time.
Then, there’s the growing family. In June, Hamlin and his fiancé Jordan Fish welcomed their first son, Jameson, into the world, joining his sisters Taylor (2013) and Molly (2017).
The elephant in the room right now is the much talked about legal battle going on between NASCAR and his team regarding charters, antitrust claims and trying to hold on to the charters they owned coming into the season.
How Hamlin Handles It All
During the NASCAR Playoff Media Day on Wednesday, Heavy on NASCAR asked the three-time Daytona 500 Champion how handles so much going on at once right now.
“It’s a lot,” he said. “It just gives me more gray hairs. I have them, they’re in there.
“I try to find time for everything, so I just work a lot. There is no schedule to my days, I am working 24/7. There’s not one hour that’s more occupied. Except when I close my eyes, I am just working. I extend my work hours longer than anyone else.”
The demand of having a family, no matter how many members, requires constant attention. That’s a point not lost on Hamlin, even during the busiest of moments.
“Having a family has no set hours.” he said. “It doesn’t matter, when the kid gets up at 3 a.m. you have to get up with him. It’s just part of the job.”
How the Legal Battle Business Affects Hamlin
One good part is the lawsuit hasn’t taken a toll on his on-track performance or caused any issues in pre-or post-race tech with NASCAR officials. But, the off-track issue has put Hamlin in a mindset to be better.
“I think we’re treated fairly by the NASCAR officials that are at the race track,” he said. When asked about who wasn’t treating him fairly, he simply stated, “The others.”
This was most likely in reference to executives within NASCAR who don’t call races or do inspections. That alleged treatment motivates Hamlin to be successful.
“No, (as far as affecting him) it just me angrier,” he shared. “I want to win the championship. I want to win 60 or more races, and so that is my number one goal. So, I’m not going to let anyone distract me from that no matter what their motivations might be.
“The variables, I don’t control. That, to me, is the most stressful thing is that you don’t know the outcome or what’s going to happen with everyone else. Who’s going to cause a wreck right in front of you?
“Those are the things that scare you. I’m not scared of not performing good enough, because I know I’m absolutely fast enough to perform.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Denny Hamlin Talks Juggling Legal Battle and More All at Once appeared first on Heavy Sports.