$50K reasons why Denny Hamlin loves Phoenix: "It just brings back good memories"

Denny Hamlin will be smiling ear-to-ear when he returns to Phoenix. The NASCAR driver/team owner will return to Arizona where he hit a $50,000 jackpot in November last year.

The 42-year-old revealed on his podcast 'Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin', that a lottery ticket he bought while competing in Phoenix last year made him $50k richer. He was competing in the NASCAR Cup Series championship race that weekend.

Hamlin said on his podcast:

"We were beside ourselves for a while, for sure. So, needless to say, I love Phoenix, it just brings back good memories to me from hitting the Powerball last time I was there."

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver revealed on the podcast that he had purchased $300 worth of lottery tickets from a convenience store while stopping for fuel. Hamlin had bought the tickets for his friends from a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. He won the prize after a November 7 drawing matched five out of six numbers on his ticket.

According to the Arizona lottery, Hamlin was one among nine people who won $50,000 in the draw on November 7.

Denny Hamlin is one of the richest drivers on the grid as the #11 driver and is the co-owner of 23XI Racing. Forbes ranked Hamlin as the third-highest-earning NASCAR driver with estimated total earnings of $14.6 million.

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Denny Hamlin's hot takes on F1

Denny Hamlin believes Red Bull will dominate the 2023 F1 season. After a strong showing in the pre-season test, the team finished 1-2 in the season opener. Hamlin predicts that the cost cap penalties won't affect the team and they will continue their strong run of form.

In the latest edition of his podcast, Hamlin spoke about the Netflix series Drive to Survive and Red Bull. The 42-year-old said:

"Just started it [Drive to Survive]. I mean, apparently, the Red Bull team’s just gonna win every race unless something crazy happens."

The #11 driver went on to give his thoughts on why Red Bull is unbeatable right now. Hamlin spoke about the development the team has made over the winter to make the car aero-efficient. He added that Red Bull had a much more efficient Drag Reduction System compared to its rivals.

He said:

"Like Red Bull, it reduced 20% of their drag like everyone else, the next highest total was like 17%. So, their cars are so fast compared to the competition."

Denny Hamlin also gave his opinion on whether Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton would win his record-breaking eighth title.

Hamlin opined that it was 'nearly impossible' for the Briton to challenge for the title this year. He added that the gap between Red Bull and Mercedes was too big to make a difference over a single season.