NASCAR CUP SERIES: BRICKYARD 400

July 26, 2026

Denny Hamlin

Pit Lane Interview

Q. Corey told me that final restart, Denny is probably mad, but he would have done the same thing. Walk me through that from your perspective.

DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah, everyone is trying to fight to win the race. When you're clear by an inch, you're going to take that inch.

It's really more on us and the 20 and the 19 of just not orchestrating good pushes there. We came detached at the wrong time.

I thought the 20 obviously was on board with getting us the push. It was way too early before the restart zone. I can't go till we get to the restart zone. He said that Briscoe was on him way, way early or laying back, one of the two.

Yeah, that's how you lose 'em. These restarts, when everyone kind of knows when you're going to go, it's about the pushes. That's essentially where I got the lead from the 67 the restart before. Just came back the other way around. I maybe was in there just a hair into turn two. You shut the door.

I mean, yeah, everyone's fighting for a big Brickyard victory.

Q. You wanted this one. You were in the perfect position. Corey Heim is, on the other side of the coin, going to win a lot of races for you. How do you balance those two conflicting thoughts?

DENNY HAMLIN: It's earned on their side and it's on us as a team on the other side. I don't know. I'm sure maybe I could have done something different on the restart with the timing of it. Man, just getting a shove so early just didn't allow me to get my car straight before taking off. Logano really timed the bump to the 67.

I don't know what we do different. We're part of circumstances where the inside line didn't get organized. Really proud of 23XI overall. That part-time effort that Bootie and Corey is putting together, most times they're on the racetrack, they're our fastest car. They're doing a heck of a job. Definitely a well-deserved victory.