gettyimages-1638921763.jpg
Getty Images

In his own words, Denny Hamlin says that he has had more going on in 2023 than he ever has before. And at a glance, that's absolutely the case.

An 18-year veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series, Hamlin continues to be one of stock car racing's biggest stars and a primary character -- whether you view him as a protagonist or antagonist is up to your discretion -- in what happens on-track each week. Compared to 10 or even five years ago, however, the 42-year-old has far more to deal with than simply his responsibilities as the driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing alone.

This year saw Hamlin start his own podcast, "Actions Detrimental," which has quickly become appointment viewing and has helped shape the narrative of his 2023 season. He's three years into being the co-owner of 23XI Racing, and has been intricately involved in the design of the team's new headquarters currently three and a half months away from completion. And while all that goes on, there is also the matter of working out a new contract to continue driving for Joe Gibbs Racing to contend with.

Altogether, there is and continues to be a lot for Hamlin to deal with as he enters the start of the 2023 playoffs, where the fate of his season is set to take shape.

"I've just got a lot on my plate at the moment," Hamlin told CBS Sports. "Starting the new podcast certainly added to that a little bit, although that was stuff that I was doing on social media anyway, right? I think that I certainly have pulled back a little bit from the general social media comments or thoughts or opinions and put it on the podcast. Because I simply think that having the time to explain yourself and explain your position or your opinion on any given thing, it takes more than just a couple of sentences.

"Dale Jr.'s obviously bugged me for awhile to start this thing ('Actions Detrimental' is produced by Dirty Mo Media, the production company owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.). I finally gave in to him, and I've been very happy with it. The reviews that we've gotten, the viewers that we have every single week, we're hoping to continue trending in the right direction. And that's educating new fans about our sport, and then telling the ones that are avid fans maybe some things that they didn't see on the TV this weekend. 

"Really happy with where everything is. It's just right in this particular moment, there's a lot more going on than what normally would be."

As his equity and influence has grown within NASCAR, Hamlin has evolved as one of the sport's most provocative figures. He is unapologetically aggressive, and is perfectly willing to say whether he put Ross Chastain in the wall on purpose at Phoenix or that he never made contact with or ran Kyle Larson into the wall while the two were racing for the win at Pocono. Behind the scenes, Hamlin has become vocal and opinionated on the direction of NASCAR itself, which includes challenging the sport's leadership.

But come playoff time, that all feeds into a narrative that Hamlin has yet to dispel once and for all.

As Hamlin has never won a Cup Series championship despite coming close several times, there are some who suggest that he is too often prone to creating distractions for himself even when it matters most. Incidents the past two years, such as a feud with Alex Bowman entering the season finale and a dispute with William Byron over on-track contact at Texas, have become ammunition in arguments that Hamlin has a habit of waging wars or tilting at windmills at inopportune times that take his focus away from winning a Cup title.

That narrative is something that Hamlin understands, but he believes that his results over the years -- including recently -- speak for themselves as to whether he can handle racing for a championship, owning a two-car team whose drivers he'll be competing with for the championship, and the occasional spat with another competitor and subsequent assumption of his microphone and his platform.

"I am able to compartmentalize what I'm working on when I'm working on it, and when I go and get in that car on Sunday I am as more or better prepared than I've ever been, and certainly I believe more prepared than most of the guys in the field," Hamlin said. "I spend a lot of time working on my craft continuing to get better – at no time will that ever let any distractions interfere with my performance for my No. 11 team, because they are my No. 1 priority over everything."

There's no doubt that whatever Hamlin does or says moves the needle within NASCAR. But there is room to wonder exactly how Hamlin adding that elusive Cup Series championship to his long list of career accolades would further his influence and the legitimacy of his persona alike.

With the next win to add to his 50 career victories, Hamlin will surpass the legendary Junior Johnson as the winningest driver in NASCAR history to have never won a Cup championship. He's finished in the top three in the championship standings five times, and made the Championship 4 of the playoffs three years in a row from 2019 to 2021 -- and would have made it four in a row last year had it not been for Ross Chastain bending the laws of physics to knock Hamlin out on the final lap at Martinsville.

But compared to other sports where wins and losses are a binary and a great player not winning a championship can be easily frowned upon, the spectrum of success in auto racing is far greater. There's something to be said, after all, about consistently finishing in the top five or always being in the mix for the win. Given that, Hamlin said he isn't really sure if a championship would make his voice more meaningful.

"I think it's kind of up to other people to decide whether they respect me more or less because I have a patch on my suit that says Champion or not. I think that the results that we've shown over the last 18 years – winning 50 races – somewhat should speak for itself," Hamlin said. "I try not to get too caught up in, 'This defines you,' one way or another, because it doesn't. It's just, our sport is different than others for sure.

"I just try to put the best effort I can on the racetrack every single week. To be part of the Final Four for three years in a row before last year, there was not one regret that I had in that final race. I did everything I could. Some was bad luck by ourselves that we caused, some was just we didn't have the speed – and didn't have the speed to compete with the guys that won the championship.

"I think this year we do have that speed that is capable of winning. And so I just hope to have a chance when we get to Phoenix. That's all I want is just another opportunity."

Hamlin came up just short of winning the 2023 regular season championship at Daytona, where he proudly wore a pair of Air Jordan 1's custom-designed as part of an event FedEx Cares and Operation Warm hosted at the Boys & Girls Club of Charlotte. Not only were 150 children in need custom-fit with pairs of new shoes, but Hamlin was in attendance as the children were all given the opportunity to be creative and design Hamlin's shoes.

After Hamlin identified his top three designs and an Instagram vote was held, 8-year old Pearl's winning design was brought to life by shoe artist Sal "Kickstradomis" Amezcua, giving Hamlin a pair of shoes he wore throughout Daytona weekend after an event he took a lot of personal joy in.

"This was a little different, because we did let their creative minds go to work and they actually came up with this here which is very cool," Hamlin said. "We're gearing up for the playoffs. This is an important time, and to now have Pearl's design ... It's really fun to see it come to life in a real shoe."