"I think aggression wins more than patience" - Denny Hamlin explains why he treats the Daytona 500 a little differently to other races

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin weighs in on the rationale behind his divergent approach when it comes to the Daytona 500.

The JGR driver and 23XI Racing co-owner has secured three Daytona 500 victories in his career. The first one came in 2016, while the other two were back-to-back wins in 2019 and 2020. So, Denny Hamlin's reasoning behind having a different racing perspective during The Great American Race holds strong ground.

Speaking with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90), the 43-year-old driver emphasized that "aggression wins more than patience." Hamlin elaborated on his thought process, saying:

"I think aggression wins more than patience. You just got to treat this race a little bit differently in the sense of that. While you want to be patient, in NextGen racing on superspeedways, you can't give up the track position like you used to."

The 23XI Racing co-owner added:

"So you have to be aggressive and that's going to put you in danger most of the times but someone always makes it through. You just got to be the one who makes it through."

---

Denny Hamlin claims being "selfish" got him the Daytona 500 triumphs

The #11 Toyota driver is renowned in the NASCAR community for his aggressive driving style. Not only does Hamlin believe that being combative is the key to shining in motorsports, but he also keeps the opinion of being "selfish" at times.

During an episode of 'NASCAR: Full Speed,' the JGR driver teased getting back to his old ways of driving if that's what it takes to win the longest race on the NASCAR calendar. He said (via Fox59):

“I’m going to have to go back to my old ways. I know it’s a shock to many, but I’m going to have to be more selfish. … I think that what gave me the results from the previous Daytona 500s was being selfish at times.”

He added:

“[I will be] waving bye-bye to the strategy of ‘Well if I’m behind this person, I have to push them.’ Well, I don’t agree with the move that they might make, so why do I have to go with them? That’s not in my best interests.”