During an interview in 2012, Denny Hamlin opened up on the NASCAR drivers he enjoyed and didn’t enjoy racing against. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver also offered his opinions on the drivers from the past he’d have loved to be a teammate of. As journalist Jeff Gluck asked Hamlin about one clean driver he enjoys racing against on the track, the #11 driver mentioned the name of Matt Kenseth. “I think there’s just mutual respect,” Hamlin responded when asked why he chose Kenseth’s name. He races me very clean and doesn’t hold me up when I’m faster – and I try to do the same to him Hamlin was further asked about the opposite, the NASCAR driver he didn’t enjoy racing and one who made things difficult for him on the track. The JGR driver named AJ Allmendinger deeming him “probably the toughest.”He also put Marcos Ambrose in that category.
Though they make it “harder” for him, Hamlin noted that those two drivers don’t drive dirty alongside him on the track. “A lot of the reason they make it harder is they drive in the corner so deep, you’re scared when they’re behind you – because they’ll run into you – or you just can’t get position on them because they drive in so far,” Hamlin said. Denny Hamlin mentioned David Pearson as the driver he would have preferred to be partners with later in the discussion. Three-time Cup champion Pearson won 105 Cup races and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson were also chosen by Hamlin, who cited their dispositions as the reason.
Denny Hamlin revealed his opinion on ‘different’ racing in NASCAR’s Next Gen era in 2023 In 2023
Denny Hamlin talked candidly about how “different” NASCAR racing had become in the modern day amid his then-current battle with Ross Chastain. He said that it’s harder to pass because the cars are closer than before. Hamlin wanted NASCAR to go back to the good old days, saying that even a driver like Mark Martin would need to change his style in the Next Gen era. “The days of the gentleman letting the guys go and you will just go and get them later – it’s just a different game these days,” said Hamlin. However, Hamlin understood that they would need to change from where they were. Hamlin mentioned his example, claiming that over the last few years, he had become “more aggressive” because of the nature of racing around him.
