Catchfence

Denny Hamlin

Will you be able to do any physical activity for the next year with your knee injury?

“For me, basically I’ve got to figure out a different way to have cardio. What bothers me the most about it is I’m not able to do the things I love to do. Everyone has a hobby outside of racing and if you told them they couldn’t do that for a year-anda- half it would bother them. And for me, it’s (basketball) just something that I took up and I love to do. For me, now it’s just going to be about finding a way to get my heart rate up in a different way.”

Will your injury affect you mentally?

“Whether it’s been cutting my hand in my rookie season or something like that, all I can remember is not feeling any pain once I’m in the race car. Ultimately, the hand hurt worse than what this will inside a race car. You’ve got to be mentally tough and for me I feel like I’m just so focused inside the race car it didn’t matter if I had a broken leg — I wouldn’t feel anything.”

How long can you stand before your knee bothers you?

“It’s about two hours that I have on it when it really starts getting unstable. I had a moment when I went to the X Games (in Aspen, Col.) where it gave out and popped twice and I fell down just standing up because I had been on my feet too long. That’s the thing you’ve got to worry about. At that time I didn’t have a brace, but we’ve got a custom made brace now that I’m going to wear pretty much everyday and that I have to wear everyday just to help support it because ultimately the more you stand on it the weaker it does get.”

How different are you now compared to when you won the Shootout as a rookie in 2006?

“I’m a ton different. I don’t even remember that guy to be honest with you. I think the media could probably give a better explanation of how different I am from 2006 to 2010. I just feel like I know a lot more about how things go here in the Cup Series and the way NASCAR does things and ultimately what it takes to win a championship.”

How much more is expected of you now than when you won the Shootout during your rookie year?

“Every year you expect yourself to be better than you were the previous year. Without a doubt I know in my mind that I’m better than I was in 2008 and in 2008 I was better than I was in 2007. Just because we may be different on the stats sheet than that, I think everyone knows being on a competitive level we’re better every single year. Last year was just almost good enough performance-wise to win a championship, so what does that mean for 2010?”

How close do you think you were to Jimmie Johnson last season?

“Those races that we blew up — just give us an average finish — and we’re right there racing them at Homestead. Ultimately, he had a problem too so if you give that back to him it’s going to be a little tougher. You’ve just got to learn. That’s the biggest thing I have. I watch a lot race teams and learn and try to figure out what it takes. Once you think you have it figured out here in the Cup Series is when you stop going forward. And for me the biggest thing I think that’s made me better over the last few years is when I make a mistake I learn from it and try not to make that mistake again.”

What race team have you learned the most from in the Sprint Cup Series garage?

“The best is Jimmie (Johnson), as far as keeping your cool, but it’s mentally tough on the entire competition to stay as mentally cool as him because we don’t feel like we have — we’re racing with the same stuff. It seems like he’s always got a leg up in one sense or another. You’re watching practice on a weekly basis and they run as fast as they have to. That’s tough and I think that takes its toll on other drivers and it forces them to make mistakes. I don’t think Jimmie (Johnson) has ever been in a position where he’s had to give it all he had to win a championship. I think he just kind of lets things come to him and watches other guys just crumble around him.”

Are you worried that four or five hours in a race car at a short track will affect your knee?

“By then I think the pain will be much, much less than it is at the current time. Myself, there’s no better place than I can be at Daytona as far as the leg is concerned. Talking to the doctors and everything like that, by the time I get to California I won’t have a limp. I’ll walk normal and everything will be fine especially now that I have a daily brace that I’ll be wearing. It’s going to help a ton with the rehab.”

Are you going to wear a brace when you’re driving the race car?

“No, we manufactured one but I don’t know if it’s going to fit. The confines of the cockpit are so small that in case of emergency, especially on a wreck or something like that, and you’ve got to make an abrupt move with your feet to hit the brakes and you’ve got to have that mobility and you’ve got to have that room and I think the brace takes a little bit of that away. Ultimately, I got in the car and did some heavy braking, some clutching with no brace at all and it was no issue.”

Why do you think you’ve had knee problems throughout your career?

“I’ve used my body like nobody else. I push it to the limit no matter what I’m doing. If I’m playing basketball, golf, it doesn’t matter what I’m doing — I want to be the best at it. You know it’s funny, that gets the best of me at times and takes its toll on my body. It doesn’t matter if I can’t really get out of bed because my back is aching, I’ll lace up and head to the basketball court that afternoon. I never let injuries bother me and if anything I perform better with them.”

Do you consider yourself the favorite to win the championship this year?

“I feel like talent-wise, I’m as good as anyone on the race track. Ultimately, it takes a lot of pieces of a puzzle to make a championship run. The driver’s skill levels are probably 15 to 20 percent of it. So, there’s only so much I can help but I think my team is better prepared this year. We learned a lot from how we ran our race team last year and started to peak at the right time. Those are some things that are very valuable to our race team that you’re going to see the same characteristics this year.”

Does the earlier start time affect the outcome of the Daytona 500?

“I think the early start times play into guys like Tony Stewart. When we talk about making runs during the summer and how good the stats are during the summer a lot of it has to do with the race track being hot. Myself, I think it’s great that we’re running during the day. I think you see it all of the time — it’s like you have different competitors running up towards the front when the track starts cooling down and starts getting into the night. I think that’s a very honest statement and an underrated thing that people haven’t really paid attention to is the start time and what it’s going to affect and who’s going to perform best during the day because it is a different race track.”

Do you have a clean sheet of paper going into this season with Brad Keselowski?

“For sure. Last year was last year and ultimately I feel like I’ve probably given him more press than what he deserves. We’re parked beside each other so maybe he’ll make me dinner and send it over. I was really looking forward to doing the basketball skills challenge with him at the Charlotte Bobcats game, but I saw highlights and that wasn’t pretty. It’s a good thing he can drive, that’s for sure, he’s got some talent there.”

How did you injure your knee?

“I was playing basketball at Birkdale (Huntersville, N.C.). It was just a pickup game. I play every Monday and Wednesday at lunchtime. I play with the same guys every time. Unless you understand basketball it’s tough to say, but when you do a cross-over it is kind of when you juke one way and go the other and you’ll see it a lot with running backs in the NFL and a lot of them get injured that way. Basically, it’s just a juke one way, a split to go to the other and my knee didn’t hold that pressure. I don’t think it had anything to do with the surgery we had on the other knee the previous four weeks before that. I think it was just a freak thing that anybody in my position probably would’ve had the same injury.”

Will you have surgery on your knee at the end of the year?

“Yeah, if I ever want to play again I have to get it repaired. The only thing I’ve got to think about is maybe I can rehab and make it to where it’s strong enough to where I can just wear a brace when I play sports from now on. But, I think they said if you really want to be back to 100 percent you’re going to have to get surgery. There’s going to have to be a couple of screws put in there and attach that ligament back. I think without a doubt I’ll just spend next off-season on the couch. I think it’s going to be for the better in the long run.”

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release