Denny Hamlin Will Welcome Cheers at Daytona 500 After Challenging Offseason

Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, Fla.) — Denny Hamlin has suffered through so much since the start of November. Now, he will take all the encouragement he can get. Hamlin knows he could be a sentimental favorite Sunday to win his fourth Daytona 500 and that he might hear more cheers than boos. That will be fine by him come Sunday. It is hard not to feel for Hamlin, who had dominated the season finale at Phoenix before a late caution resulted in pit stops. And ultimately, he ended up on the losing end of the title after taking four fresh tires while Kyle Larson prevailed on just two. He then went through an uncomfortable two weeks of the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports trial against NASCAR, which eventually settled in a victory for the race teams. Then a few weeks later, his terminally ill father died in a house fire that also seriously injured his mother. So it would make sense if the fans end up cheering for "11 Against The World" Hamlin. "It’s the noise that you really want," Hamlin told me and other reporters during his Daytona 500 media scrum Wednesday. "The fans have been really supportive over the last few months and after Phoenix and how that ended, it’s just how many comments and messages I got from fans. It made me feel like I was a champion even though I didn’t have the ring and the trophy. "They certainly made me feel like I had accomplished what I was hoping to accomplish. If the boos turn to cheers, that will make me happy." Hamlin, who starts 22nd in the Daytona 500, has barely been to the race shop in the offseason. During this time, he's been grieving the death of his father. His dad, Dennis, was so sick last fall that he felt he probably wouldn’t live to see Denny attempt a run at another championship. For context, the 45-year-old Hamlin has excelled in his Hall of Fame career with 60 Cup wins ... but no Cup title. "I feel good about the last race my dad got to see I was at my best," Hamlin said. "He got to see as good as I’ll ever be, he got to see that moment. I don’t know where it goes from here, but I certainly feel as though I’m a competitive person, and I’m motivated by winning. "It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, whether I’m racing or doing a hobby or whatever that might be. I just haven’t been in that fierce competitor type of mindset in months and months now. It’s just now starting to get back." Hamlin credited team owner Joe Gibbs with helping him through the hard times. Gibbs, who has endured the loss of both of his sons, would visit Hamlin’s father regularly over the last several months. "[He] talked stories with him, prayed with him," Hamlin said. "My dad was really trying to get right with the Lord last year and felt like Joe was someone who kind of helped with that." Gibbs actually got to the hospital before Hamlin after the house fire. "He’s just unbelievable how he is as a leader and obviously he has been through it," Hamlin said. "My connection on that personal level is more so with Joe, and it’s always been that way since he took over as my at-track dad." All three of Hamlin’s Daytona 500 wins have come in the previous generation car. In the four races with the Next Gen car, Hamlin has a best finish of 17th. It looked like that rough stretch would end last year when Hamlin was leading on the final lap before a crash eliminated several contenders. Eventually, William Byron, who was ninth heading into the final lap, ended up winning. "[Winning a fourth] certainly was on my mind on the last lap last year when we were leading, that we are going to get another one," Hamlin explained. "I’ve just been really lucky to have the opportunities I’ve had to win these races but also been very unfortunate in the Next Gen era to not have won more. "I feel as though the opportunity will be there, and hopefully we can put ourselves in position to move ourselves up that Daytona 500 winners board." Hamlin believes he will get back into the groove of racing soon. "I know I’m way too competitive to just go through the motions," Hamlin said. "So as we get on the race track and go through practices and qualifying … we are slowly getting there."