Denny Hamlin on Sonoma: ‘I didn’t let Tony win’

He hasn’t won again, but came close last week when he finished second behind Tony Stewart at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

“It’s been a really great experience”. He figures to be a player Saturday night as he always is in restrictor plate races, but make no mistake there are some nervous fans among “Junior Nation” wondering when their favorite driver will finally break through in 2016. If I’m in his situation, I’d probably do it the same. Ultimately, I thought even though I made a mistake, we’d drag-race to the line because we were in the center of the corner side by side. “I’m proud for them, and it meant more for me to get it for them than for myself”. I didn’t just drive the lap, I drove up to where the crowd was (turn seven) and did burnouts and revved the motor onto the chip (its limit). “It’s been a lot of fun”. I had Jamie McMurray screw us up on a lap. You know, it’s a new and unique challenge. I love that about a live broadcast.

“I feel like it’s gone pretty well. I can’t wait for next year”.

“As far as the actual part of being in the booth, I guess I’m somewhat surprised that it’s gone as well as it has”. Knowing Tony, he was going to go back for the lead and give Hamlin one more shot.

He commented on his triumph after the race, per Jeff Gluck of USA Today: “To get a win, especially at a place you’re going to for the last time, it means a bunch”. I felt that it would have been very close if he really wanted to carry the vehicle down there whether he still would have gotten to me or not. That transition has just gone better, I guess, than anticipated. I work in it. It wasn’t overnight. There are things I want to do that because of our schedule, you don’t have time to do it.

NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) has announced today that their top two premiere series will be remembering the victims of the June 12th tragedy that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida this weekend.

Q. Was it interesting that Brad Keselowski was the first person that got you into a broadcast controversy? I know there is. I think that he maybe feels or felt like I carried over some of that animosity from our run-in on the race track and the issue in Texas, but it’s actually quite the opposite. I know people that talk about it all the time. But I think that it’s really interesting, and I like hearing it, and I like seeing it. There is so much stuff in the garage area that has changed that it was time for me to make a change with it. “But we’ve just been very fortunate on superspeedways”. In a sport that seems to be getting more homogenized – lots of good guys but not enough drivers with an edgy disposition – Stewart brings a wonderful mix of competitive cockiness and cantankerous personality. When you wake up, you are thinking about it. For the balance of the regular season, in which 10 races remain, Stewart can focus his efforts on breaking into the top-30 and staying there, so he can tell a similar story to what Busch did a year ago. So that’s just the way that I communicate and the knowledge that I have of being inside the cockpit and understanding the cars, and that’s just what I’m trying to do in the booth. You can’t argue with someone who is the owner of three Sprint Cup championships (1999, 2005, 2011), all of which he has celebrated at Homestead-Miami Speedway.