Denny Hamlin reflects on loss of $70 billon worth sponsor after Phoenix finale

The era of Denny Hamlin and FedEx came to an end at the Phoenix championship race, which got Hamlin emotional.

Denny Hamlin reflects on loss of $70 billon worth sponsor after Phoenix finale

Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

The race at Phoenix was filled with mixed emotions. While Joey Logano was celebrating his Cup Series championship victory, on the other hand, the field witnessed some farewells also. One of them was Denny Hamlin‘s long time sponsor FedEx ending their partnership with the 43-year-old, to which the JGR driver expressed his gratitude by sharing a heartfelt message during a post-race interview.

With Denny Hamlin and FedEx’s partnership coming to an end, the No.11 driver wanted to give a proper farewell to the Tennessee-based corporation. However, he qualified outside the top 10 for the race in Phoenix and was unable to make any significant impression during the race. He eventually finished 11th, and was unhappy with his result.

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Regardless of this, he did not let his frustration catch up to him while bidding adieu to FedEx in post-race comments. He reflected over how they supported him since he raced in junior categories and thanked them for their unwavering faith in him.

Such a great relationship and obviously, you know… 19 years are over. With the presence they have had, they have been part of my racing career, the whole thing in Cup[Series] and so we are like happy to represent them.

Denny Hamlin told Bob Pockrass

On the other hand, Hamlin finished eighth in the overall driver’s standings. This would give JGR a huge influx of cash that might help fill in some of the lost revenue that the team would be worrying about since FedEx’s departure.

Denny Hamlin gives an update on the sponsorship situation at JGR

While prize money could run the team for quite a while, it is not a sustainable way in a high-expenditure sport like NASCAR. Subsequently, JGR would require a sponsor replacement soon and the 43-year-old gave an update on the whole ordeal back at the factory.

JGR's Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

Hamlin elaborated on how the team is exploring all the options it has before the start of the next season and is excited for the arrival of the new sponsors.

It’s a work in progress. I mean certainly the Gibbs team have been working hard, we’ve got some good talks going on, but we’ll see what goes on next year. Obviously, we’ve got some great partners that have been with the team for quite some time now.

Denny Hamlin said in the same interview

However, after being in contention for the title for a long time, Hamlin’s bid for the championship came to an end at Martinsville. This would make up another year where the Toyota driver was able to qualify for the playoffs but was unable to taste the victory champagne due to subpar results towards the tail end of the season.

Apart from this, he co-owns 23XI Racing, who recently lost the preliminary injuction in court. Thus, making his situation quite worse from the outside as he has to traverse through both driver and team owner challenges.