“It consumes you”: Denny Hamlin reveals his hunger for winning and exhausting work ethic

Denny Hamlin recently gave an insight into his mindset, his work ethic, and what he constantly demands from himself. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is not only one of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history, but he's also the co-owner of one of the fastest-growing organizations in the garage today.

And because of playing the role of a team owner who wants his team to grow and a better, and a competitive driver who wants to win more, Hamlin faces the toll.

Recently on the "Actions Detrimental" podcast, Hamlin opened up about being more selfish in the past two years knowing that the "sunset clock is ticking." He said there's an urgency now to his mindset as a driver because of where he is at in his career and the limited number of opportunities he'll have to win the Cup Championship.

This led his co-host Jared Allen to wonder if this was his mindset all the time or if it was something that he turned on and off according to the situation. To which Hamlin said,

"It's turned on 24-7. I can't turn it off. I'm always thinking about what I need to do win. I think about it when I lay my head on the pillow. I think about all the things. Last night as I'm trying to go sleep, I'm thinking, 'What am I missing? How can I get better in the wet? How can I hit my marks better?' All those things go through my mind constantly. It consumes you. Sometimes when people around me don't understand why I'm so tired at times, it's because I'm mentally exhausted. Anytime I try to relax, it's like, 'Oh, I'm exhausted,'" Hamlin said. [at 49:30]

The #11 driver remarked that the intellectual investment in meetings led to thought-provoking ideas, which further caused him to fall into a rabbit hole of pondering about fixing certain things and making certain things better.

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Denny Hamlin thinks he's going to struggle a lot in his retirement

Further sharing his thoughts on this subject, Denny Hamlin claimed that his mindset of constantly trying to get better could cause him to struggle when the time comes to pull the curtain down on his career.

"It consumes me and it's why I think I will struggle with retirement one day. I'm constantly stimulated by wanting to get better in so many different aspects, wanting my team to be better, wanting all those things to be better. Then what happens when I actually am off and I take a vacation? Am I going to be so ultra bored? More than likely," Hamlin said. [51:02]

He revealed that his boredom during COVID is what made him start a race team with Michael Jordan. Denny Hamlin revealed that one day he found himself sitting by his pool as he contemplated the idea of what retirement would look like.

But as for the time of his retirement, Hamlin remarked that while it is inevitable, it's not going to happen anytime soon. While claiming that his competitive juices are flowing a lot at present, Hamlin said the idea of letting it go isn't there in his mind.