Denny Hamlin
The communication between the driver, the spotter and the crew chief is very key. You can't have people talking at the same time, so it's like a choreographed radio call of a baseball game.Collection: Communication
These short tracks are about patience. You have to show patience.Collection: Patience
Communication is key to having a good team.Collection: Communication
If you're relying on winning for happiness, you're going to be a miserable individual.Collection: Happiness
I can pump myself and beat my chest all I want going into a racetrack, but when you haven't had success there, that means you don't know what feel you are looking for.
It's easy to be optimistic when your car is fast.
Anytime you have adversity or something that you self-inflict on yourself, you typically always have a chip on your shoulder to make sure that you're not the weak link.
Back when I was racing go-karts, I would be a complete jokester. I'd crack up with the guys around me, I just was horsing around with everyone. But as soon as we got our go-karts to the grid and I put on my helmet, my daddy always used tell me, 'You turn into a completely different person.'
I'd say I'm moody, I'd say I'm temperamental. But within my certain group of friends and family, I'm very open and outgoing and joke around a lot.
We try 100% every single week to do the best job we can, but we always seem to find 10 more percent when we're faced with adversity.
When you go an entire year or more without winning, it makes you appreciate when you get back there.
Luck is just a stupid word in racing.
I think there's always debris around the track, without a doubt you can call anything debris.
The Daytona 500 is always special.
You're a competitor, you want to win. Especially when you have a great opportunity to win.
I think our sport is much better off with a successful female driver in NASCAR.
Anytime you slow the speeds down, racing will always be better.
It's hard to find the motivation to perform at 100 percent when you're trying to find yourself, trying to figure out what feel you need, really when you feel like you're not racing for anything.
I'd say most qualifying sessions in the Chase are about the only times I get nervous, because qualifying is so important. A lot of times, when you're fast in practice, you have to live back up to those expectations in actual qualifying.
I just constantly judge myself based off my performance. When performance isn't good, I let it bring everything down.
What people don't realize is they mistake my shyness for cockiness most of the time.
I'm the most underrated driver.
I never liked reading books or reading anything - I'm a pictures guy.
I always said when I was in Late Models, all I ever wanted was when I pull out on the racetrack, people feel like I'm the guy to beat.
I was 16. I wrecked my truck and the only way I could pay to fix it was to get a job. So I applied at a Subway.
I'd say probably Dale Earnhardt was the biggest autograph I got when I was a kid, mainly because it was so hard to get it. His lines were way longer and it nearly took an act of God to get his autograph.
Every time the races would come to Richmond, my mom would have a sheet of where each driver was doing appearances. And we'd go on a Thursday night road trip to each stop to get each driver's autograph.
I just hear Montreal is nice, especially during the summer months. It's supposed to be a clean city. The races I've watched up there, it always looked like a good time.
Richmond is just the ideal racetrack.
I really like 'Million Dollar Listing Miami.'
I nearly slept through my entire senior year. I'm fairly convinced they just gave me a diploma just to get me out of school.
Gosh, I'm so different from what I used to be.
I always have to work on my flexibility to help my back, and Pilates helps the most.
I think my reputation among peers is probably different than my reputation among fans. My peers know me pretty well and so it's fairly accurate. I think I'm respected among my peers.
I think the reason I was successful in my rookie season is because I was having a lot of fun.
I've taken quite a few risks on the ski slopes. Like if I'm a green-level skier, I'm going on the blacks just because it's hard and a challenge. That's probably not the best idea.
For a season, I would say driver is 40%, car/team is 40% and then 20% is luck when it comes to winning a championship.
Outside of the track, I love sports.
I almost always remember a picture I took with someone. If they said, 'Hey, here's a picture of us from five years ago,' and if I look at the picture, I almost always remember that specific time.
Usually if I wreck someone, it's on purpose - because I don't wreck a lot of people.
I would say a lot of people think I'm too serious at times, but actually I feel like I'm the opposite away from the camera and everything. I feel like I have a good time, but you rarely see pictures of me in the garage with a smile on my face, even though I am happy. I guess I just don't always show it.
If you had 25 races or 20 races, something like that, there'd be more of a demand for the race ticket. I think you'd probably see better racing because of it, too, honestly. Because the less chances we have to get wins, the more aggressive we're going to be.
There's too much that I'd like to do outside of racing to do this until I'm 50 or whatever.
I like to make sure I eat as soon as the drivers meeting is over. Then I like to take at least a 15-minute nap or so before the race starts, just to kind of get refreshed. That's something I try to do every time.
I like to get wild sometimes with my shoes, but I don't venture too far out with shoe colors.
If I play a round of golf with a pro, it's with Bubba Watson.
I've paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for Tweets and whatnot. I express my opinion.
I'm different than the normal NASCAR driver, I listen to hip-hop music.
I think I'm just quiet, and I don't talk a whole lot.
I've always been an introvert.