To a familiar mixture of cheers and hoots, Denny Hamlin rose to his Toyota door n ° 11 and deployed a blue flag sporting “11 against the world”.
The acting at the crowd of Martinsville Speedway, Hamlin seemed to be Celebrate his 55th victory in the series of cups On Sunday, while also narrowing those who thought they had finished winning on Nascar’s first circuit.
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“It’s me,” he said, adding that if he couldn’t speak in the trash, it takes off his superpower. “I’m not so good. My friends, it makes them absolutely crazy. It aligns me and it makes me feel good. … I love it when someone says that I can’t do it, go there and do it.”
For Hamlin, triumphs often come in the middle of turbulence, and adversity (some self-induced) has been abundant in recent times.
Michael Jordan, 23xi Racing co -owner are involved in a trial against Nascar It has dragged for six months and could remain unresolved until the end of the year.
His team started the season looking for a primary sponsor to replace Fedex, who left after 20 seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing.
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And the victory in Martinsville (the Virginia track a few hours west of its hometown of Chesterfield, a suburb of Richmond) broke two long droughts for Hamlin – a scrap of 31 hours without victory and a 10 -year -old sequence without a victory of 0.526 mile where his six victories are more than any active cup driver.
Binding Rusty Wallace, attaching the Nascar Hall of Famer, for 11th place on the list of victories of all time, will not resolve its legal battles. But the self -proclaimed “king of irrational confidence” reveling to dominate Martinsville with the speed of a championship candidate after having faced questions since last year to find out if the quest for two decades of 44 years of a title had become useless.
“I know that when I got the car to do it, I can be the best,” said Hamlin. “I did not feel like I had retained the car at any time. Admittedly, I am not immune to understanding that the father’s time is undefeated. Everything I need to be good to be a racing car driver is always very clear. ”
The head of the crew Chris Gayle, who won his seventh race since his appearance with Hamlin, was surprised by his new driver’s work ethics. Until Saturday evening before Martinsville, Hamlin sent SMS to Gayle about his car while moving on the accelerator and braking data from the October 2022 race (the last time he felt dominant on the track).
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“As he aged, he had to increase the amount of work he did,” said Gayle. “It can be passed earlier without doing it. He is with us in the simulator at least six to seven hours a week. He is to be part of the team. It talks about the place where his head is at this age.”
The team owner, Joe Gibbs, said that Hamlin spent more time in the simulator than his three teammates – who are all at least 14 years younger – and the renowned temple football coach wants to keep his veteran leader in the long term.
“The only thing I learned about athletes, those who really have it and are special, you would better pay attention to something earlier,” said Gibbs about to determine when it is time to hang it up. “Let them go. So we are going to go up Denny for as long as possible. ”
Hamlin smiled when we told Wallace who had never won after his 55th victory in March 2004 in Martinsville. Wallace retired from the Cup the following season.
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“I won’t feel bad to beat his 55 records when I do it,” said Hamlin, adding that his retirement was “far”.
Brutal race
NASCAR officials examine the controversial XFINITY finish in Martinsville Speedway to determine whether drivers will be punished in their mid -week penalty report. Sammy Smith admitted that he had intentionally destroyed Taylor Gray from the Tour 3 head in the last round, causing a multicar accident. Gray earlier, Smith had hunted from the head.
Hamlin was one of several people who called bad behavior and sporting spirit, and he planned to resolve it more in his weekly podcast “Actions Dotistal”.
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“I think the sanction organization must be a little involved and intervene on blatant things,” said Hamlin. “It was just a horrible driving by most people. It’s just not a good look. You shouldn’t be able to wipe someone. We have a black flag for a reason. We should start using it.”
Executive move
Nascar appointed President Steve Phelps as his new commissioner supervising all aspects of NASCAR, the ISSA sports car series and the 15 tracks held or operated by NASCAR. Although NASCAR has once had a stock-car racing commissioner who has treated calls for penalty, the sanction organization facilitates Phelps as the first with the extended responsibilities of the newly created role.
“We are delighted to appoint Steve Phelps as the first commissioner of Nascar,” said the president and chief executive officer of Nascar, Jim France, in a press release. “Its leadership, its professionalism and its well -deserved respect for the whole sports industry speak of its unique value for sport.”
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Steve O’Donnell will go from the chief of Nascar to replace Phelps as president and manage his three national series daily and his commercial, media and track operations.
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