Remember when the NHL and the fastest sport in America, NASCAR, crossed paths? Both sports saw an increase in popularity because of that dream crossover. Even while hockey and NASCAR are often compared as a perfect fit, pickleball is certainly not an outsider. With an eye toward the future, three-time Daytona 500 victor Denny Hamlin has proposed a NASCAR-Pickleball partnership, which if established, might generate excitement among audience and racers as well.

Denny Hamlin would love to see potential crossover between NASCAR and Pickleball

Unbeknownst to many, NASCAR drivers surprisingly find solace in pickleball during their downtime. It may sound like the setup for a joke, but it’s true. Pickleball is becoming more and more popular among NASCAR drivers, particularly well-known racers like Austin Dillon and Chris Ric, which signals a crossover between two seemingly unrelated worlds. Alongside them, Denny Hamlin is a huge pickleball fan when he’s not racing around tracks at lightning speed. In a recent interview pickballdotcom journalist Victoria, Hamlin discussed the sport and how he and the NASCAR community share a love for it.

Highlighting the game’s competitive nature and the advantages of a potential crossover with NASCAR in the future, Hamlin said, “I think so. I mean, certainly there’s a lot of drivers that play. I mean, there’s racetracks now that are putting in courts in the driver-owner lot. So kind where our buses are stayed where we, you know, instead of us staying at hotels, we stay in our buses and inside that lot, they’re putting these courts in and, I mean, they’re full till one o’clock in the morning. So, we all play quite a bit and it certainly gets more and more competitive. So I’d love to see the crossover happen more and more.”

Two years ago, when a Toyota Supra driven by Ryan Truex was seen at a NASCAR circuit with a paint job that said “Shop USAPickleball.com,” it clearly showed the connection between NASCAR and pickleball. During the Phoenix race last year, NASCAR encouraged fans to participate in the festivities at the Chicken N Pickle too. Given the popularity of the sport, maybe in the near future, NASCAR could consider a crossover to expand its audience, as suggested by Denny Hamlin.

Now, enough about his past-time hobbies. When in comes to his racing career, the driver is preparing hard and fast for the upcoming race at Bristol Motor Speedway since his last race at Phoenix saw him miss out on a close top-10 finish because of an unintentional bump with Tyler Reddick.

Late-race spin at Phoenix cost Hamlin a spot in the top 10

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In the last stage of the NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick got into an upset incident. The bad boy of NASCAR spun out in Turn 2 when his vehicle slid up onto Reddick.

Hamlin initially had a good opportunity to win after starting in pole position, but his prospects were ruined by the abrupt spin. Thankfully, he didn’t crash into any walls or other vehicles. This might have been a total bust for Hamlin, but he dug deep and came in eleventh, which was a respectable showing after all.

After the unforeseen accident, Hamlin reflected on the difficult race and described the uphill struggle he endured. He said, “It’s difficult for sure the car put off a big week and that’s just part of it. You can certainly think that if you had a good car, you can make ground.”

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Let’s hope Denny Hamlin will clinch the victory in Bristol that he was originally chasing at the United Rentals Work United 500. Do you think he’ll be able to do it?