Denny Hamlin may not ever win the Most Popular Driver Award in NASCAR, but in veteran crew chief and broadcaster Steve Letarte’s mind, there is no bigger star in the sport right now – regardless if he is or isn’t the most popular driver – than Hamlin.
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“We talk a lot about stars and star power in this,” Letarte said on NASCAR Inside the Race following Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, which Hamlin won, his series-leading sixth win of the season. “He might not win the most popular driver vote, but there’s zero doubt in my mind who the biggest star in the NASCAR garage is. And it’s not even close at that point.
“It’s what makes stardom. And what I mean by that is you can say it’s because he owns a team with Michael Jordan (23XI Racing). You can say it’s because he has his podcast, but what is the exclamation point for stardom is that you are the best at what you should be the best at, and that is him as a race car driver.
“It’s hard to be a star if you’re just okay. So in my mind, like he has the ‘it’ factor for the garage for me, right? He flies around in jets, he’s not afraid to say flies around in jets. He wears a jump man (Jordan’s Nike logo) on his firesuit and he owns a race team with the guy.”
Hamlin is celebrating his 21st year in NASCAR Cup. He’s won 60 races, virtually every big race on the schedule – including the Daytona 500 three times – but he’s still chasing his biggest goal, that of winning the Cup championship. With the way he’s going thus far this season, this very well may be the year for Hamlin to achieve that accomplishment.
“‘I’m okay that fans don’t like him,” Letarte said. “(Hamlin is) polarizing, I think that’s a great word, right? And I think that he gets an emotional reaction from everyone in opposite directions for some, but from everyone. That’s what any sport needs. That’s what NASCAR needs. And I’m glad somebody is doing it on and off the racetrack. Man, everywhere you turn, it’s Denny Hamlin.”
