Denny Hamlin has very little time at hand to recover from the crushing defeat in the 2025 Cup Series finale. The trial date (December 1) for the antitrust lawsuit 23XI Racing filed against NASCAR is fast approaching.
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Despite the tight, high-pressure schedule, Hamlin is determined to find some time for himself. He admitted in an interview with Racing America that the 2025 loss took too much out of him and that he must find a way to rejuvenate his spirit.
However, Hamlin is aware that he can’t afford to make any solid vacation plans with the court date so near. “I don’t have any plans. Usually, I have some kind of plans at some point, but obviously, with the pending litigation and stuff, I don’t know whether I’ll be in town or not,” he said.
“So, that stuff is obviously kind of fluid. But I’m going to take some time and go on a vacation at some point. I certainly need it very, very badly. Other than that, just spending more time at home,” added Hamlin.
Professionals who are a part of the NASCAR Cup Series bandwagon travel extensively throughout the year. They seldom get enough time to spend with their families. Hamlin is no exception. So he greatly desires to spend the offseason with his family.
“Being able to now make more of my daughter’s volleyball games is going to be exciting for her. Molly has gymnastics and stuff that I get to go see now. I’ll just spend most of my time with them, and be a fan of them versus the other way around, like they are for me for 38 weeks,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver added.
Hamlin was recently spotted at the Amelia Motor Raceway in rural Virginia along with his daughter, Taylor. The track is where his racing career began back in 1988, driving karts when he was just eight years old. The abrupt visit to where it all began is seen as a step he took to remember why he started racing in the first place. He needs those reminders to recover from the Phoenix heartbreak.
This revisit to the roots, and the time he is going to spend with his family, will perhaps help him be stronger than ever when he gets back into the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE in 2026. A positive outcome in the ongoing litigation would help as well.
