"It blew my mind": Carl Edwards wishes he connected more with 'so good' Denny Hamlin more during their JGR days

Carl Edwards recently singled out Denny Hamlin as his one teammate in a response to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s question. During a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download where Edwards was the guest, he was asked by Junior about the one teammate he had a difficulty connecting with or one he wanted to have a better relationship with.

The former JGR driver named Denny Hamlin. Edwards and Hamlin were teammates for Coach Gibbs' team in between 2015 and 2016. During that time, Edwards won 5 races while Hamlin also won 5 times.

However, Edwards expressed his admiration for his former teammate as he claimed:

"Denny is somebody, Denny is so good, it blew my mind the things that he can do in the car. And I always wanted to be, I wanted to talk to Denny more. I wanted to understand how he thought. I just could never Denny to, and I probably never tried enough but I wanted to know what goes through his mind, how is he so good at all these different types of racing all the time. So you go to Martinsville, he's unbelievable. Superspeedways, he's unbelievable. Road courses, the mile and a halfs, every skill set, Denny had. And I watched him. He was always getting better. It was very interesting." [41:05]

Edwards' thoughts on Hamlin resonated with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who deemed the #11 driver as incredible, extremely smart, and talented. But at the same time, Junior also pointed out that Hamlin can be secretive at times.

He recalled the time he went to Hamlin as a broadcaster during a race at Darlington. Junior was curious about the line the #11 driver was running in the entry and exit of turn 1, something no one else but Hamlin was doing.

However, Hamlin refused to entertain Earnhardt's curiosity because he didn't want his rivals to following his line. This prompted Dale Jr. to claim that Denny Hamlin's current situation is interesting because he's doing podcasts where he has to explain himself more.

Earnhardt said Hamlin has been the type of person who likes to explain himself or why he does what he does.

Denny Hamlin sent out a public invitation to Carl Edwards for a NASCAR drive

Earlier last year, Denny Hamlin invited Carl Edwards to drive for his team, 23XI Racing whenever he wanted to. The former JGR driver called time on his career in an 2017 announcement which came as a shock to many.

At that time, Hamlin and Edwards had been teammates for two seasons. But while Edwards didn't turn around to give driving in NASCAR another shot, his former teammate publically stated on his podcast that if he wanted to, 23XI would be happy to have a seat with him.

“I just told him whenever he’s ready just let me know, whenever you get that itch," Hamlin said.

The #11 driver remarked that Carl Edwards had stated many times that until NASCAR finds a way to improve the horsepower in the Next Gen cars, he wouldn't entertain the idea of coming back.