$65M-worth Denny Hamlin shares how mom's frugality shapes his anti-extravaganza birthday approach

NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, worth $65 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth), recently spoke about how his mother's saving habits influence his simple birthday celebration ideas. On a recent episode of his podcast, "Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin," the 43-year-old shared his thoughts on keeping his birthday celebrations small.

The full-time stock car racing professional and team owner drives the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE. Today, he has a large net worth through racing and owning the NASCAR team 23XI Racing. Hamlin makes about $13 million a year racing for Joe Gibbs Racing and has deals with big brands like FedEx, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Jordan, and Logitech.

However, remembering his childhood birthdays, Hamlin shared a story about his mother's frugality.

"My mom used to save the candles every year. After I blew them out, she would clean them and save them for the next year," Hamlin shared.

Hamlin has a total of 54 NASCAR Cup Series victories to his name. These include three Daytona 500s in 2016 and 2019; three Southern 500s in 2010, 2017 and 2021; and one Coca-Cola 600 in 2022.

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Denny Hamlin's thoughts on birthday parties

As his co-host, Jared Allen, was celebrating his birthday, Denny Hamlin spoke about his daughter, Molly, and explained that he prefers not to have big parties every year.

"We were going through this discussion over what to do for Molly's birthday, and I said, 'Can I vote nothing?'"

For Hamlin, not every year needs a grand celebration, only important birthdays like 10, 16, and 21 should have bigger parties.

"What happened to just buying a cake and blowing out the candles?"

Hamlin also shared a conversation with his mother where he asked her about the number of birthday parties he had as a child. Unfortunately, her answer was "zero". You can watch the full episode here.

On the track, Denny Hamlin has had plenty of reasons to celebrate this year, and has three race wins to his name (Dover, Richmond Raceway, and Bristol). He ranks at number four in the standings with 683 points and eight top-5 finishes.

At the Pocono Raceway this past Sunday, Hamlin came in second behind Ryan Blaney's Ford Mustang. Although he led for 31 laps, Hamlin couldn't catch Blaney after losing the lead with 44 laps left.

"I don't lose races, I just run out of time," Hamlin said after the race.

Next, he will be racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 21.