Denny Hamlin "wired" to take on whirlpool of emotions amid 23XI's lawsuit and upcoming birth of third child

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Denny Hamlin recently opened up on juggling the major concerns in his life at present. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver currently finds himself in the middle of a whirlpool of emotions with 23XI Racing's ongoing lawsuit implications, awaiting his third child, and his duties as a driver.

Hamlin ended up winning his third race of the season at Michigan. And after the race, he was asked to elaborate on what is going on in his head as he's dealing with these different facets and duties in his life.

"You don’t want any parts of this head. No parts. The tackle box is full. There’s all kinds of stuff going on. It’s just the way I’m wired. It’s the way I’ve always been. I don’t know if I’ve always been this way, but certainly over the last 10, 15 years I’ve been this way where I’m just really addicted to the process, the process of being good. It’s become harder and harder every single year. The process changes every year of what it takes to excel," Hamlin described.

He claimed that most of his 'so good' current rivals in NASCAR are 'pretty much half my age', because of which he finds it gratifying to beat them. Denny Hamlin added that his win at Michigan was one of those moments where he found a lot of gratification as he beat a driver of the caliber as William Byron.

Hamlin added that doing that made him feel 'really good' 20 years into his Cup career, adding that this is 'the best' he has ever been in all his time in NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin wants to remain on the top 10 all-time wins list for a long time.

At 44 years of age, Denny Hamlin is currently the oldest active driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. But despite that, he already has three wins to his name this year, which is as many as he had in the whole of last season.

Speaking about his longevity in the sport and his hunger to win, Denny Hamlin claimed he gets 'so hung up' in earning a chequered flag, to the point where he gets frustrated if he doesn't execute well.

"It’s gratifying. I look at the names that have won multiple. I think Jeff Gordon has the most, right? It’s like these guys, I can’t hold their helmet back. They’re better than I am. I know they’re better than I am because I’ve raced against them. It just feels good because I’m going to hate it when I’m not at the level I’m at now. I certainly will retire very, very quickly after that," Hamlin elaborated.

He claimed he's aiming to put himself in the mid-60s of total wins at the end of his Cup career. Hamlin added that he's counting on Kyle Larson and Joey Logano to take over his win tally because of how early those two drivers began their Cup careers.

Having said that, Hamlin emphasised that he 'forever' wants to be in the top 10 all-time wins list, even though someone would eventually take over him. But he claimed that until he's alive, he wants to retain his top 10 place.

And with three wins already to his name so far in 2025, Denny Hamlin said that he's on pace to where he feels he needs to be.