When Denny Hamlin won the 2006 Rookie of the Year award with Joe Gibbs Racing, William Byron had just witnessed his first NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway. Denny finished P37 and P2 in the Spring and Fall races respectively, at the iconic “Half Mile of Mayhem” that season.

Both racers have led very different lives in pursuit of a coveted, inaugural Bill France Cup. But Byron may have an advantage over the two-decade NASCAR veteran and in a heartfelt conversation on one of ‘Frank’s Walks’ with Frank “The Tank” Fleming, Hamlin explains exactly what it is.

Denny Hamlin and William Byron’s differences in “opportunity”

Hamlin kickstarted his racing career in the late ‘80s racing go-karts out of his native Chesterfield, Virginia, and almost a decade later in his first-ever stock car race at Langley Speedway, the future Joe Gibbs driver would win pole position to go on and win the race. Byron on the other hand, a representative of the ‘Next Gen’ drivers of NASCAR racing, began on a simulator wheel with no prior real driving experience, as a teenager on iRacing. Regardless, both drivers caught their big break racing Late Models during their earlier days of growing stardom. 

The Tank poses an intriguing question to “one of 15 drivers to win 50 races or more” walking around Martinsville: “How young do you have to start to become a good racer?” Hamlin explains his experiences: “I started when I was 8 years old, in go-karts. That was kind of my start.” 

Explaining the contrary narrative in current times, Hamlin uses the example of Wiliam Byron to elaborate on the futuristic opportunities absent during Hamlin’s own developmental days. He said, “If you look at other drivers like some of the young guys today. William Byron, for instance, didn’t start until he was a teenager and he started on iRacing. Well back in my day, when I was 8 to 10 years old I didn’t have iRacing so I had to go out and just do it in real life. That’s the opportunity kids have nowadays that we didn’t have…” 

iRacing breaking real-life boundaries

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Moreover, Denny also explains that racing is “a very expensive business and it costs a lot of money to do.‘Cause your kid wants to do it. You got to go buy him a car. You have to replace the tires every week. If they blow the engine, if they wreck it. It costs money to replace it.” He concluded by singing praises of iRacing, using the cost standpoint as a perfect reference to the growing utility value of virtual simulators supporting the stars of tomorrow in a much more economically efficient manner.

“iRacing creates a platform to where you can do it online and honestly, it is the best way that you can hone your skills virtually. An NFL player can’t go play Madden and get better at it because they’re just pressing buttons. But on a platform like iRacing you’re using your hands and your eye coordination, and your feet, and all those things equal making you better,” said Denny Hamlin.

However, as both the similar, yet different drivers get set to face off for the Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway this weekend, Denny has been highly supportive of the exciting advances on display by Hendrick’s #24 driver. After Byron’s inaugural season-opening victory at Daytona earlier this season, Denny had said on Actions Detrimental, “He’s (Byron) a guy that we could be talking about in that 60 (to) 70-win category if he keeps going on this pace. He’s got the potential.”