Did you know Denny Hamlin wasn’t even the first choice when it came to his Joe Gibbs seat? As the story goes, Joe Gibbs and his son J.D. asked Markham, a driver who had raced against Hamlin before, to prepare some Late Model tests. Knowing his speed, Markham went to Hamlin, and to his credit, Hamlin did a wonderful job. In fact, he did such a good job impressing Markham that the tests were a blur for the driver when they happened. Markham had just one name in mind: Denny Hamlin. “I called J.D. back at the shop and told him we had who we needed. I stayed on J.D. about Denny until they finally signed him up. The rest is history.” It’s been 22 years since that moment, and Hamlin is no longer the kid with something to prove. He’s a Daytona 500 champion—three times over. Despite not winning a Cup Series trophy, he has one big honor coming up, and his teammates are all in for it.

This weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, Denny Hamlin will join NASCAR royalty. He’ll start his 700th Cup Series Race, becoming just the 22nd Driver in history to do so—a milestone that places him alongside legends like Jimmie Johnson, who recently hit the same mark at the Coke 600.

Christopher Bell didn’t hesitate to credit Hamlin as a cornerstone of Toyota‘s NASCAR journey. “ He really has kinda helped mold Toyota into what it is and certainly he’s been, you know, one of the key faces and identity markers for Toyota and Toyota Racing in NASCAR. Whenever you think of Toyota that eleven Camry is pretty high on the list.” Bell is not wrong. If you see the current Joe Gibbs and Toyota lineup, Hamlin is the only one out of the old guard who has stuck around. Martin Truex Jr. retired, and Kyle Busch went the Chevy way.

For Cory Heim, the connection runs even deeper. “ Alright, I grew up as you know idolizing him and he’s my favorite driver growing up, so to be able to look back on my childhood and know that I’ve-you know—he’d served such a role model image for me is really cool and then I’m actually racing for him, which is even cooler.” For a driver as young as Heim, by the time he began watching Denny Hamlin, he was right in the middle of some of his best years. Remember the 2010 Tums Fast Relief 500, where he marked his fourth win at the track? Or the 2012 Irwin Tools Night Race, when Hamlin beat Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for his first win at the track? When you think about it, who wouldn’t idolize Hamlin when watching the sport at the time? It’s the kind of full-circle moment that makes NASCAR feel like family, and for Cory to be racing with his hero is definitely a privilege.

Tyler Reddick, who now drives for Hamlin’s 23XI Racing, praised the grit that shaped Hamlin’s rise. “Someone like him coming from the background he did and how hard his family had to work to get him the opportunity then getting the opportunity and then essentially transforming his life and his family’s life into what is today is pretty crazy. Yeah, seeing what he’s doing now with 23XI. The more that I know him, doesn’t surprise me because everything that sports done for him, he’s now giving it back.” 

Reddick’s talking about the sacrifices Hamlin’s parents made to push his racing dream. And who better to describe it than Denny himself? This is what he said about his parents’ hard work just a few weeks ago. “The biggest hurdle that most young kids will find when they get into motorsports is that it costs money…You have to buy a car and the tires and the fuel and the engine when it blows or you crash—you gotta keep fixing it. So it takes a lot of funding. And the challenges we had when I was growing up was, my parents had very normal jobs. My dad worked at Great Dane Tractor Trailers, my mom worked at AAA Travel, and they could only take me so far in the racing world. And so it was more me pushing them to keep me going. We risked a lot as a family.” 

It’s clear that Hamlin isn’t just logging another state line—he’s left fingerprints on the careers of those around him while helping define Toyota’s Legacy in NASCAR. However, as NASCAR returns to Nashville, Denny’s PTSD returns. On his podcast, he admitted that the track has some bad memories for him, recounting, “Okay… Well, we’re going to give it another go. Nashville, more PTSD. Nine overtime finishes, as we’re dominating that race. Ran down Ross, passed him with I don’t know, handful of laps to go. Austin Cindric plays grab-ass with somebody down the backstretch. Spins, doesn’t touch anything, spins, does a 360, keeps going, they throw a caution, and nine overtimes later, I had to pit after the fifth overtime. Maybe sixth.”

Last year at Nashville Superspeedway, Denny looked set to seal the deal. He passed Ross Chastain late in the race and was in full control until chaos took over. A string of incidents pushed the car into five exhausting overtimes. Eventually, Hamlin ran out of fuel, and Joey Logano snatched the wind, jumpstarting his charge to a third NASCAR title. Though the number 11 driver had secured the pole, he wound up 12th, just one piece of a brutal five-race stretch that saw finishes of P38, P24, P24, P12 (at Nashville), and P30, not very ideal for a veteran. With the cause of last year still fresh, can Denny finally tame the track that’s tormented him?

For now, let’s check out an apology Hamlin received this week.

Heim’s big shot with Hamlin’s 23XI

When William Byron lost the Coca-Cola 600, some fans were quick to blame Denny Hamlin. They felt he was in the way of Byron, and as a lapped car, he should have moved away. However, Hamlin lost his cool.

“Speaking of HMS fanboys. I’m getting some mentions that I’m responsible for Byron losing? What the f— are people watching? I was behind him when he stepped on his d—. How can people be that dumb? If you said that you’re an idiot. That is just asinine. You think I give a f— at that point?” he ranted. Well, it seems like one of the people calling Hamlin out is not apologizing after putting up a post that blamed Hamlin.

Steve Taranto let out a sincere apology, owning up to his mistake. He said, “Want to issue an apology to @dennyhamlin for misrepresenting what was actually happening in the last 10 laps of the Coke 600 last night. I was recording video from in front of an empty pit box, didn’t have a good look at the big boards behind me and was only going off what I saw as the cars were going through the quad oval in front of me. I was also typing very quickly and didn’t choose my words carefully, and I also didn’t consider that people who have an axe to grind with Denny would go off a 5-7 second clip I posted as opposed to actually judging what was going on off the TV broadcast. Admittedly I’m still fairly new to having a larger platform and having posts I make take on a life of their own. It’s embarrassing and I’m sorry for causing Denny and his team an undue headache. I will be much more careful in future that this does not happen again.”