Denny Hamlin celebrates his victory at NHMS on Sunday, July 16
LOUDON, NH – Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski serve as inspiration to young drivers for reasons beyond their exploits on the ovals and road courses of the NASCAR Cup Series tour.
What’s not to admire about these two?
Since being named Sunoco Rookie of the Year for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2006, Hamlin has made 674 Cup Series starts with 54 wins, 50 poles, 228 top-5 finishes and 347 top-10 finishes. Hamlin has three wins in 19 starts in 2024. Hamlin leads all active drivers with three wins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Keselowski has made 538 starts on the senior circuit with 36 wins, 153 top-5 finishes, 257 top-10 finishes and was the 2010 Cup champion. Keselowski has visited victory lane twice in the Magic Mile.
What sets Hamlin and Keselowski apart from other circuit operators is their forward planning within the motorsports industry. Hamlin and Keselowski have their future careers assured even though they still compete at the highest level for their respective racing teams.
Hamlin began seriously thinking about his second act when NASCAR ceased operations in the spring of 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. A fortunate sequence of circumstances occurred for Hamlin when he teamed up with NBA Hall of Fame legend Michael Jordan.
Hamlin was at the top of his game when racing resumed in 2020 and the post-race business venture he coveted came to fruition in the fall of that year. Hamlin joined forces with Jorden under the Jordan brand and on October 22 they announced the formation of 23XI Racing.
The numbers in the name are significant because Jordan wore the number 23 during his NBA basketball career and Hamlin drives the number 11 race car.
“It certainly evolved over time and now I know more about the sport and my interest in being more than just a race car driver,” Hamlin said. “It’s always evolving and changing. “I won’t be driving forever so you want to open additional doors.”
Hamlin is the “on the ground” partner, while Jordan uses his star power and charisma to attract sponsors, most notably Toyota, which builds the stock cars for 23XI Racing. Despite having the opportunity to be the flag bearer for his own team, Hamlin signed an extension with Joe Gibbs Racing and the two organizations have collaborated with each other in the past.
Hamlin is meeting the challenges of senior management with the same tenacity he shows on the track.
“There are always problems and that’s it,” Hamlin said. “You build a really solid business, you run it the right way and still problems arise, which is normal.
“There are problems that arise every day and you are always putting out fires. That is the most important. But it certainly has allowed for a lot of networking and this business is certainly about relationships, partnerships and networking.
“It certainly opened those doors over time and we’ve been very fortunate to have the partners and sponsors that we have there. It has also opened other personal businesses for me.”
Keselowski was the standard-bearer for Team Penske, and he and two-time Cup champion Joey Logano formed the most formidable duo on tour.
Like Hamlin, Keselowski was thinking about his second act when he bought an ownership stake in Roush Fenway Racing, which is under the umbrella of majority owner John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group. The new name on the masthead at the start of the 2022 season was Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.
“I had a chance to go see him (Henry) the other day and he’s in good spirits and excited about all the success we’ve had,” Keselowski said. “He likes the paint scheme of the car, the Red Sox paint scheme and he’s really excited about it.”
Keselowski has dealt with many of the same problems Hamlin encountered in owning and managing racing teams.
“You learn something every day and you have good days and bad days,” Keselowski said. “It sounds very cliché, but all companies are really focused on people and putting them in the right places and in the right systems and processes around which they can be successful.
“You learn more about it over time. The challenges are making sure you have the right people and motivating and incentivizing them in the right way and then finding the money to pay them with sponsors. When you achieve that, the rest takes care of itself.”
Neither Hamlin nor Keselowski fared well on Sunday’s edition of USA Today 301 at NHMS. Hamlin was in third place on lap 219 when the race was red-flagged for 2:14:49 due to inclement weather.
NASCAR had all cars reconditioned with wet-weather tires before racing resumed. Hamlin’s car did not adapt well to the new tires and dropped to 24th. Keselowski lost track position when he collided with defending champion Martin Truex Jr. early in the race and finished 28th.
On the bright side, Keselowski’s RFK teammate Chris Buescher took fifth, his best finish in the Magic Mile by 10 spots. Hamlin’s 23XI driver Tyler Reddick finished sixth.
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