“I’m not near the end of my career by any means,” Denny Hamlin reforms his statement on retirement after winning the 2022 Coca-Cola 600
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Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin who drives the No.11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing as a full-time Cup Series competitor had once previously said on a podcast that he’d likely be taking retirement from racing after winning a huge race such as the Coca-Cola 600 which he won this season but he reassures that he won’t be walking away after this victory.
He also addressed the design and handling of the Next-Gen Car as compared to the old one when he was asked about the crashes and Chris Buescher’s flip resulting in a total of 17 cautions during the historic event of 600 miles which elapsed over 5 hours. On account of the Memorial Day Weekend, Denny Hamlin carried Lance Corporal Jared Marcus Schmitz’s name on his windshield.
His current season is not his best so far with two victories at Richmond Raceway during the Toyota Owners 400 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and managed to acquire just two top 5s and two top 15s with a P2 at the iconic Texas All-Star Race. With his last few outings being the top 5s he acquired, he appears to be getting into form after each race of the second half of the season which could probably take him further up in the points table.
“It was a struggle most of the day,” Denny Hamlin calls his road to victory lane a scrambling one
Denny Hamlin was asked whether his win at the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 will be his last one and he responded by saying that he still has a lot of racing left in him and that this win is no doubt a feather in the cap he also added that he battled to stay out front facing problems with the car as it was losing balance at times and it wasn’t having any grip at all.
“I’m not near the end of my career by any means, but this is certainly one that will be on the résumé when you’re done. I thought we were just going to stay up front most of the day. We just weren’t very good, to be honest. We battled with the car. We were tight, loose. Overall, we didn’t have the grip we needed,” said Denny Hamlin.
He further added that it was a hectic race and that he was glad he managed to keep himself in the top 10 and not drop down further and he later made the most out of his car in the final stages as the caution was indicated and he had something going his way and he seems to be turning around his season lately.
“Yeah, it was a struggle most of the day. But we just stayed in it and never really got ourselves outside of the top 10. We kind of stayed in that spot. We capitalized and made our car better in the final stage. I thought that was about all the potential we had in the car. When the caution came out, here we go, we got an opportunity to win. Finally, something kind of went our way,” added Denny Hamlin.
He concluded by talking about the Next-Gen car’s differences from that of the old ones as he went on to say that the newer one lacked downforce and side-force and the drag was evidently present and also added that due to the diminished downforce, the car tends to spin as it slips off a little to the side and that it’s difficult to keep it from lifting off once it starts spinning.
“The car has less side force and less general downforce. In our old car, you could kind of hang out. On the right side was a billboard, it was flat, so it caught air. The moment it gets sideways, it just spins out. You don’t have as much aerodynamics that keeps the car planted to the track,” concluded Denny Hamlin.
With Denny Hamlin standing 17th in the standings, he still might get into the playoffs with his two wins and he has to exploit it to have a chance at the championship trophy.
Also read: Denny Hamlin’s Net Worth, Endorsements, NASCAR Salary, and much more
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