“We just came up a little short”: Denny Hamlin had a ‘solid’ final race at Auto Club Speedway

Denny Hamlin capped off a ’solid' race at Pala Casino 400 finishing the race in sixth position. Hamlin drove the Sports Clips Toyota Camry in his final outing at the Auto Club Speedway. The #11 driver was the only Toyota Driver to finish in the top ten starting the race in the seventh row.

The JGR driver enjoyed his time on the track but admitted that the Toyota Camry lacked speed. Chevrolet drivers had a pace advantage as they grabbed the top five finishing positions. Even with a relatively slower car, Hamlin managed to finish ahead of the remaining Chevies.

Denny Hamlin spoke to the media after the race:

“Yeah, such a great race track – such a fun track. Wish we had a little more speed overall with our Sport Clips Camry, but still a solid day. I thought our balance was pretty good, just needed a little speed there and I thought we would be there in contention. I felt like we were a third-place car or so, so we just came up a little short of that. A decent day.”

Other Toyota drivers endured a tough race, with Martin Truex Jr. (11th), and Ty Gibbs (16th) managing to finish on the lead lap. The other three Toyota drivers had an uneventful race as Bubba Wallace finished 30th, Christopher Bell 32nd, and Tyler Reddick 34th.

Christopher Bell, who started the race on the pole, had a forgettable race as he crashed out of the race. The #20 driver was involved in a multi-car crash as the leaders slowed down on the Stage 2 restart.

The JGR driver spoke to the media after the race:

“Yeah, just the same thing that everybody already said – you can’t see what’s going on. You are just going off the guy in front of you and all of sudden he slows down and I got into him, and other guys got into me.”

While the rest of the Toyota Drivers suffered, Hamlin drove a brilliant race.

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Denny Hamlin’s life off track

Denny Hamlin is a racing driver but off track, he is a team owner and media member. Hamlin co-owns the 23XI Racing team, a venture he started with basketball legend Michael Jordan. Hamlin recently launched his own podcast Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin. The podcast, co-hosted by Jared Allen, reviews the previous race in detail and provides a preview of the upcoming events.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Hamlin spoke about the ‘different hats’ he wears:

“I have so many different hats on at times. I mean, I’m a driver. I’m an owner. And now I’m a media member. I have my own podcast. It’s definitely interesting, but I love the sport. I never really considered any of this work because it’s all what I love to do.”

Hamlin also spoke about the mindset required to manage the team and drive on the weekends. He revealed that he tries to focus on the race when on track and works to make the team better when off track. As a team owner, Hamlin believes he has three more chances to win in each race.