Denny Hamlin reacts to Martin Truex Jr. retired from full-time racing in Phoenix

Denny Hamlin said goodbye to a teammate and fellow player NASCAR Cup Series veteran this past weekend, who Martin Truex Jr. retired from full-time racing after the conclusion of the race in Phoenix.

Truex is someone Hamlin has raced against for the better part of two decades, and the two drivers share a unique past, both on and off the track. During the latest episode of his Actions harmful podcast, Hamlin waxed poetic about his now former teammate and wished him the best in his future endeavors.

“What can I say about Truex? Just a consistent professional as a teammate,” Hamlin stated. “Definitely someone that I admire off the racetrack as well. His – how independent he is. He’s independent off the racetrack and just a great professional on the racetrack.

“We will certainly miss Martin and all that he brings to Joe Gibbs Racing and wish him the best.”

Alas, it’s clear that Hamlin has plenty of love for Truex, and he’d love to keep their relationship strong even after the latter retires. An unintended consequence of the case, however, is that Hamlin has been forced to think about his own mortality, and he talked about whether retirement has crossed his mind later in the episode.

“Only on Mondays when I feel like shit. I have a bad race, my body hurts and it’s like, uh, man,” Hamlin said of whether he’s thinking about retirement. “But every Sunday puts me in that car and I think: ‘I have a chance to win’. And it’s just something that’s going to be hard for me to give up. One day there’s definitely going to be a light switch that turns on that I’m not as fast as I was and stuff, but I still feel like I can win it and I feel like I can win every week, and that’s what drives me. Those who know me or play golf with me or play basketball with me know that I love competition and that’s how I get my fill. And you all asked me on the plane, would ownership fill it, if I stopped driving, would ownership fill my competitive bucket?

“And I say partially. Like it’s still different when you go out and do it yourself. Now I’d be very proud to own the 23XI, knowing I had my hands in every part of building the ​​this team from scratch. To challenge the crew chiefs and the drivers on their techniques. But it’s still different than doing it myself with that part of it, and I’ve always heard people say, ‘When those who choose to retire, they know.’ I don’t know.”

Time will tell what the future holds for Denny Hamlin behind the wheel, but it’s clear he won’t be joining Martin Truex Jr. on retirement in the near future. He remains one of NASCAR’s best, and the future is bright for the Joe Gibbs Racing superstar, despite his age.