What lake does Denny Hamlin call home? Exploring Lake Norman, the heart of NASCAR drivers' residencies

With North Carolina deemed the home of NASCAR, it is no surprise that many of the stock car racing drivers reside in the state. One of them is Denny Hamlin, whose house is built on Lake Norman, which is known for being home to famous personalities.

Denny Hamlin, who is worth $65 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth), is a 43-year-old NASCAR Cup Series driver under Joe Gibbs Racing. The No. 11 Toyota driver also co-owns a race team called 23XI with NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who also resides on Lake Norman.

Lake Norman is also known for the movies filmed around the area, including Will Ferrell’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Read on to learn more about the residential area on the lake.

Drivers residing on Lake Norman

Lake Norman is a man-made freshwater lake created between 1959 and 1963, spanning 520 miles in length and more than 50 square miles. Denny Hamlin lives along the east side of the lake in Cornelius with 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan.

Denny Hamlin’s home is close to the Airspeed, 23XI’s headquarters in Huntersville, North Carolina. The 114,000-square-foot shop is home to 200 workers and two NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. The former driver pilots the No. 45 Toyota Camry, while the latter drives the No. 23 car.

NASCAR drivers like Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, and Justin Hailey lived on Lake Norman. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns a 200-acre home outside of Moorseville, which is also close to the residential area on the lake.

Other drivers seen around Lake Norman include Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Rusty Wallace, Danica Patrick, and Kasey Kahne.

Denny Hamlin’s home in Cornelius is just about 25 minutes from Charlotte Motor Speedway. The track hosts NASCAR’s longest race on the calendar, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Bank of America Roval 400 road course race introduced in 2018.

Famous personalities on Lake Norman

Aside from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, F1 filmed a scene on Lake Norman for Netflix’s Drive To Survive docuseries. Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner and his daughter shot a sequence on a jet ski on Lake Norman on DTS’ season 5.

Other movies filmed around the area include Careful What You Wish For (2016), Paper Towns (2015), and The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021).

The Curry family, including four-time NBA champ Stephen Curry, grew up in the area as Dell Curry used to play for the Charlotte Hornets. NFL personalities like coach Marty Schottenheimer and defensive end Reggie White also have a home on the lake.

Why NASCAR drivers like Denny Hamlin live in North Carolina

North Carolina has been the central hub for NASCAR considering several teams built their HQs in the state. This was where the first “strictly stock” race was held, specifically at Charlotte Speedway in 1949.

Several races across the different NASCAR series are held in NC, including tracks like Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, and Rockingham Speedway. The area also neighbors tracks such as Bristol Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway.

North Carolina is home to NASCAR's longest race - Source: Imagn

Like Denny Hamlin’s Airspeed for 23XI, teams such as Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have also built their shops in North Carolina. As such, residing in the area would be convenient for the drivers.