Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin keeps it in gear on and off the track
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin is sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after 18 races this season. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Scene
JOLIET, Ill. – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin almost seems to be as busy away from the track as he is on it these days, from his program to give fans tickets to races to his new car washes in his home state of Virginia to a restaurant/club he's planning to open in Charlotte.
First, there was the ticket giveaway program Hamlin started this season. On his DennyHamlin.com site, he takes entries each week and gives away four tickets to the race. It's just his way of giving back to the fans.
“It has been great this year," Hamlin said. "We’ve given away hundreds of tickets this year to different NASCAR races, and they’re tickets that we’ve paid for. It’s a great feeling. We get great pictures and great feedback from everyone. It makes NASCAR fans out of people that don’t always get to benefit. Even though people see that they are not the ones chosen each and every week, I think everyone respects what is going on with that whole seat program, and it’s definitely going well for us.”
Recently, Hamlin bumped up that four-ticket number after he found out the winner's family had additional members.
“I read the story about that for the ticket giveaway this weekend," he said. "We didn’t realize that [the winners] had six kids in the family, and we only had a four-ticket giveaway, so we did get some cooperation from the race track to kick in so the whole family can come now. I’m just excited about the whole story.
"It was a teacher for underprivileged children. Those are situations where there was no way that family would have been able to afford to come to a NASCAR race, and for them to be big NASCAR fans and for them to be able to enjoy when they had no idea they were even going to be considered [feels good]. It’s a huge – a great feeling from my standpoint to be able to give back to them.”
Hamlin also has the car washes that he says are environmentally friendly.
"The good thing about it is, I was able to employ some people in the community,” he said. "We use recycled water, and it’s more efficient to take your car to a car wash than it is to wash it yourself in your driveway. We’re doing things to try and be greener."
Now, there's the new dining establishment on tap.
"I have a few projects I’m working on," he said. "I have a restaurant/club opening up in Charlotte in three to four months. It’s Butter out of New York. So I’m excited about that. It’s called Butter, and it’s going to be at the North Carolina Music Factory, so that’s going to be an exciting project for us. Hopefully, it will challenge Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. in that rank.”
Earnhardt Jr. owns Whisky River in Charlotte.
Hamlin said that owning such an establishment is something he has always wanted to do.
“The owner approached me [with] an investment opportunity, and I’ve always aspired to be a restaurant club owner," Hamlin said. "I’ve never wanted to be the guy that people call all the time saying they need to get in, but I’ve always wanted to be involved in the inside look. The stereo system to how it’s run to the table service – I’ve always been kind of into that, and now it’s my opportunity to get ownership into it.”
Meanwhile, Hamlin is looking forward to racing at Chicagoland Speedway in Saturday night's LifeLock.com 400 and then to the NASCAR Sprint Cup off week that follows it.
Hamlin, who is sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings heading into Saturday night’s event, originally planned to follow the race weekend with knee surgery, but he now says that he has postponed that until after the season.
“It’s to make sure I can still play basketball for a little while longer," he said. "I just need some minor microscopic knee surgery – nothing big. In a couple days I’d be good.”
