After bagging his 60th career win at Las Vegas, Denny Hamlin peeled back a layer few had ever seen. NASCAR fans witnessed a side of him that rarely surfaces, the emotional one that had long stayed behind the curtain. For a driver often labeled a “villain,” watching him tear up in front of thousands was a sight that stopped many in their tracks. But for Hamlin, it was no shock at all.
Advertisement
Having chased that milestone win for months, the veteran finally reached the promised land through sheer hard work and perseverance, not luck.
Standing before the crowd, he laid his guard down, speaking straight from the heart and thanking fans with a sincerity that struck a chord. For Hamlin, the moment carried the weight of years of effort coming full circle, and he wasn’t about to bottle it up.
Heading into the weekend, he hadn’t marked himself as the favorite. Yet when the cards were on the table in the final stage, a crucial restart cracked the door open. In those decisive laps, Hamlin went for broke, snatching the lead from Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe to seal the win.
When asked later why the emotional outburst didn’t catch him off guard, Hamlin offered a glimpse behind the curtain on NASCAR The After with Shannon Spake.
“I know that I’m actually a fairly high emotional person. I just don’t bring the emotion into work. That’s probably the one difference that it is. I never get rattled on the racetrack. It doesn’t matter what happens. I kind of understand how things go. I’m able to keep a level head for the most part. And I just feel as though that’s a big advantage for me.”
“Now, outside the car, I mean, I feel as though I’m just like everyone else, and get emotional about things when it comes to family and kids and all that stuff. And so, yeah, I think I was a bit more vulnerable than what I had planned on being. And something that certainly the fans had not seen before,” he continued.
During the post-race press conference, Hamlin had doubled down on that honesty, admitting he’s “probably softer than what I put off.” With a smile, he even confessed to shedding a tear or two during an emotional movie. Yet for all the heart he revealed that day, one thing remains off-limits. “I’ll never let my kids see it,” he said with a chuckle. “But I do have feelings. I know it’s hard to believe [smiling]. I don’t know.”
