Denny Hamlin Reveals Secret Behind Becoming a Better Racer at the Age of 45 to Mark Martin

The NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday witnessed another Denny Hamlin masterclass, as the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran became the first Toyota racer to win at Nashville Superspeedway. He won the Cracker Barrel 400, defeating JGR teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe in ana epic last lap battle.

The 2026 season marked Denny Hamlin’s 45^th birthday, an age where majority of the NASCAR drivers in history never races in the elite division. But the veteran is P2 in the championship table, and the favorite to win the title, with two wins to his name already this year. The veteran is becoming a much better driver, when father time should be catching up with him and challenge him more.

Mark Martin, who like the TRD veteran had career in the elite division, asked the racer on his Amazon Prime post-race interview how he is getting better at this age. Hamlin responded that he is evolving his race craft by learning more and highlighted how he was able to use this factor to his advantage as he had often failed in similar shootout situations like Nashville this Sunday.  

Um, you know, I just keep learning. I mean, you know, this is one. It’s been a while since I won a shootout like this, where I wasn’t leading. I don’t know when the last one was, but it’s been a while.

Denny Hamlin said via Amazon Prime.

"I just keep learning."@dennyhamlin on how he keeps getting better with age. pic.twitter.com/A9kfzsqCKP

— Sports on Prime (@SportsonPrime) June 1, 2026

Further talking about the point, Denny Hamlin highlighted how it the past, he had only won the last lap battle when he was defending the lead. The racer highlighted how being patient, a virtue he learned after multiple failure, helped him to win by taking advantage of Christopher Bell over driving on the corner.

But I’ve definitely lost them. I’ve lost way, way more in these same situations where I’m Christopher Bell and I do the same thing and overdrive corners and I just lose it. But I just wanted to be patient this time. Just try something different. And it worked out. Didn’t it?

Denny Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin admits it was an unbelievable day at Nashville

Earlier in the same interview, Hamlin once again recalled that last lap battle with his teammate and how he was able to steal the lead after getting a better exit on turn two, which was unbelievable for him. He also highlighted how the jump start penalty and being forced to go to the back of the track made the race more challenging than expected for him.

Well, I think the 20 [Bell] and the 19 [Briscoe] were battling so hard on the first corner, just let me get to the inside of the 20 on the first corner there on the restart. From there, side by side with the 20. He drove in so deep on that last lap into 1, but it allowed me to barely clear off of (Turn) 2. Man, what an unbelievable day — starting first, going to last, and back to first… I definitely jumped the start, no doubt about that. Yeah, just looking back on it, just didn’t wait quite long enough.

Denny Hamlin told via motorsport.com.

The comments from the veteran shows how much he is working hard behind the scene to find success in the sport, while the young racer are taking over the Cup. It would be interesting to see how long he can keep up performing on the same level and when will father time finally catch up with him.

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