NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick has defended Denny Hamlin over the ongoing fan and media scrutiny after his third-place finish in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing alongside basketball legend Michael Jordan, faced a tumultuous offseason rife with legal disputes against NASCAR.
Despite these distractions, Hamlin managed to keep focused on his primary objective—winning races. During the Clash, Hamlin's performance was formidable. He overcame a sluggish start in early practice rounds to secure a place at the front of the race.
In addition, he won his heat race and led numerous laps in the main event, eventually clinching third place.
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In a recent episode of his podcast, 'Happy Hour', Harvick defended Hamlin, recognizing that many perceive him as an "easy target." He explained:
"We're all going to question Denny Hamlin, right?
"That's just the easy target. So everybody wants to put the blame, question, whatever it is, on Denny.
"But you can't deny the fact that they came out of the gate: first practice, horrible, couldn't get out of their own way. Second practice, fastest. Qualifies up front, wins his heat race, leads a lot of the race, puts himself in position.
"I think a lot of people don't give Denny Hamlin credit for how he can compartmentalize things and is able to let all the noise and all the chatter not bother him. He knows what to do."
Harvick noted the role of Chris Gabehart, Hamlin's crew chief. Gabehart is credited with fine-tuning the race strategy and facilitating the driver's focus shift from team management to elite performance on the track. Harvick continued:
"When he needs to shift his focus from 23XI and everything that's going on with the lawsuit and his drivers over there not having enough sponsorship on his car to just going in and saying, 'OK, I need to focus on what do I need to do with Chris Gayle, what do I need to do to make sure that this system is set up how I want it to be with my driving style, be the leader of the team to say, 'OK, we need to do this, this is what I feel' and let Chris make the decisions on the car.
"Proved it all this weekend. They came right out and served notice that not much has changed. I think Chris Gabehart being behind the scenes, working in the shop is going to probably help all the teams within JGR."
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Harvick added:
"Here's what happens, right? You go to the first race, you're expected to run well.
"Short, flat track we think Denny Hamlin, right? Joe Gibbs Racing car, we think those cars should run well at that particular race. And now the noise goes down.
"They spent the time to do the things that they needed to do to make sure their house was in order, and we all wondered if it was going to be in order. 11 car's in order. And they went to the racetrack, performed well.
"Now they go to the media day and the questions, they're already set. The conversation they controlled by their performance. And they go to media day now, Denny Hamlin will have to answer lawsuit questions.
"Now he doesn't have to answer questions about the performance of the 11 car because first race on track they made it happen.
"Performance trumps it all. I think this weekend Denny Hamlin served notice that things aren't really going to change, we're still going to be contenders."
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