"It's a hard sport": 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin gets honest about team fatigue amid NASCAR’s nonstop pace

Denny Hamlin commented on the "tiring" state of NASCAR in the current stage, sharing his experience of keeping people motivated from the perspective of a team owner. He stated that it can get extremely tough considering the consecutive weekends that they face, but he also promotes healthy work culture at his team.

Apart from being a competitive race-winning driver, Hamlin is also the co-owner of 23XI Racing, in partnership with NBA legend Michael Jordan. Managing a huge responsibility with three full-time drivers and the entire crew, it can sometimes get difficult for him with the increasing number of consecutive race weekends.

"I mean there's always a breaking point," Hamlin commented via the Cup Scene on YouTube (07:40 onwards) when asked about the consecutive race weekends. "I think we've seen it's been harder and harder to keep people over the years. The one thing that I do feel good about is our track record for keeping people at 23XI and keeping them happy."

While he does feel that his team, 23XI Racing, promotes healthy working for its entire crew, Hamlin mentioned that the many races in a season can make it a tough sport.

"But it's just generally a hard sport to be a part of because of the schedule and the task that we ask our people to do and how long we ask them to do it," he added.

The NASCAR Cup Series is prepared to race in 28 consecutive weekends this year, posing a major challenge for both the teams and the drivers.

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Denny Hamlin reveals working around the simulator for all four JGR drivers

A typical race weekend can sometimes be a short time period for drivers to prepare on certain tracks and plan out their strategies along with other important aspects. This is where modern technology has helped NASCAR drivers in the more recent era through simulators.

These simulators help drivers with extra practice in a virtual environment, where they can test and practice without any limits. Each team spends hours on simulators before heading into a race.

For Joe Gibbs Racing, this entire responsibility is kept on Denny Hamlin's shoulders. He stated that he does the simulator work for all his teammates because he only trusts himself.

"I do most of the sim (simulator) work for all the (Joe Gibbs Racing) cars. I only trust myself to do it. That’s just the control freak in me to want to have everything absolutely perfect," he said (via Autoweek).

"They don’t love it as much as probably I do, but I enjoy the process of being good at it," he added. "As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I’m not going to win these races on raw talent anymore. I’m going to have to out-work people. I’m going to have to look at things that maybe other people aren’t looking at."

Denny Hamlin has been running rather strong this season, having won the last two races and qualifying for the playoffs.