Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / How Long Can Denny Hamlin Keep Winning? | Coffee With Kenny
Transcript
- 0:00Happy Tuesday morning, everybody.
- 0:04The sun is shining in St. Louis, MO, and they're saying
- 0:09tomorrow, on Wednesday, we're going to have temperatures back
- 0:12up in the 70s. And this Saturday, 82°.
- 0:18And you know what that means? Going to be great weather for
- 0:22I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park.
- 0:26It's finally this week. It's finally this week.
- 0:31March 19th, 2020, First practice this Thursday night, qualifying
- 0:37heat races this Friday, and of course the big $5000 to win.
- 0:43The drivers are all over social media right now.
- 0:45They finally realize the time is here.
- 0:49It's come on out just 15 minutes from my home right here in
- 0:54Pedley, Missouri. And watch these great race car
- 0:56drivers put on a show. All right, everybody, how about
- 1:02that? We worked our butts off for
- 1:04what, two months promoting I-55, Federated Auto Parts Raceway,
- 1:10trying to get that track jacked up on Sun Drop.
- 1:14Hey, I see race tracks for sale all the time.
- 1:18I see race tracks shutting down all the time.
- 1:21We cannot let that happen here in our local Saint Louis area.
- 1:26All right, drink the coffee. Well, today's conversation,
- 1:35coffee with Kenny. I said conversation because I'm
- 1:39getting ready to do 2 Kenny conversations here on this
- 1:42Tuesday. I'm going to do the great motor
- 1:45builder, the great engine builder, Victoria Hill.
- 1:49Wow, what a story he's got. That will be the first Kenny
- 1:52conversation today. Victoria Hill race engines.
- 1:55He also runs Bull Gap, Bulls Gap, Bulls Gap, Tennessee, that
- 1:59dirt track. They just got done hosting the
- 2:02World of Outlaw Late Models. And then at 12:00, we're going
- 2:06to do Ty Gibbs, Man, I'll tell you what, I studied up on Ty
- 2:10Gibbs last night. That kid has won everything.
- 2:15No wonder he's in the Cup Series.
- 2:17He's won everything from Arkham Menard to the the NASCAR
- 2:22O'Reilly auto parts and championships.
- 2:26And I think he's done a really good job.
- 2:29He's weeded out all the noise and he's focused on what has he
- 2:33got? Three Ty Gibbs, three straight
- 2:37top fives in the Cup Series. 23 years old.
- 2:42OK here we go drivers that have shows this is a phenomenon.
- 2:57So you say to yourself Denny Hamlin has actions detrimental
- 3:02on Dirty MO Media and wins races.
- 3:05Dale Earnhardt, Junior, he started Dirty MO Media when he
- 3:09was racing and winning. Where did this all start?
- 3:15When did this start? It can be traced back exactly to
- 3:21win NFL on Fox Baseball. They're doing the playoffs and
- 3:26they need some really expert color commentary.
- 3:30They're like, who can we get? That is like a manager, you
- 3:34know, Dusty Baker. Dusty Baker, come on the Fox TV
- 3:40set. He was a real time manager, but
- 3:42he got knocked out of the playoffs.
- 3:44Then all of a sudden you started seeing real baseball players
- 3:47come on because they or their teams were knocked out.
- 3:51That's when I can really see when these drivers and these
- 3:57baseball players, these football players really started doing TV.
- 4:03There was a time that if you were an athlete and you were in
- 4:07the sport and you went on TV, other than that, your career was
- 4:11over. Not anymore.
- 4:14The sponsors like it. The sponsors like it.
- 4:18So example, if you're a race car driver right now and let, OK,
- 4:22let's take Nick Hoffman. Nick Hoffman has won four or
- 4:27five dirt races this year, and he's on, what was it called, the
- 4:31Pit bull? He's on Dirt Vision.
- 4:35Basically every Monday. I was down there and Nick did
- 4:40two shows in one day. Even dirt racers realize how
- 4:45important it is to their sponsors.
- 4:48So with Danny Hamlin winning Vegas and then immediately
- 4:52getting on actions detrimental his own TV show, Dale Junior and
- 4:58you know, everybody's got their own podcast now.
- 5:02Drivers are doing it because it helps their sponsors and it
- 5:05helps them. It's a positive.
- 5:08It's a good thing. And once again, I think you can
- 5:11trace it back to the professional athletes on NASCAR,
- 5:16on Fox. What I mean is the baseball, MLB
- 5:22on Fox, Major League Baseball on Fox, they kind of started it.
- 5:26Hell, you can even go back to Neil Bonnet, Benny Parson.
- 5:32Remember Neil Bonnet? He was running it at Vegas or
- 5:36no, he was running at Talladega, got in a wreck, and then he was
- 5:39up in the TV booth. Neil, what happened?
- 5:42Well, you know, So, yeah, good to see Denny Hamlin doing what
- 5:48he's doing and giving us a full driver's perspective.
- 5:56OK. Denny Hamlin, I see people out
- 6:02there now we're switching subjects, Everybody, we're
- 6:05switching subjects. I see a lot of people out there
- 6:09right now saying how can Denny Hamlin be doing so good at 45
- 6:15years young? Well, I would respond like this.
- 6:20How did Harry Gant win NASCAR Cup races at 50 years young?
- 6:26Well, it's pretty simple. The answer's right in front of
- 6:29you. You got to live a clean life.
- 6:33You can't be smoking cigarettes. You got to throw them away.
- 6:41You can't be smoking. Smoking is bad for you.
- 6:44You can't be partying up. You can't be drinking liquor.
- 6:48You can't be drinking beer. So although drinking and copping
- 6:53a buzz is fun, here's the key. If you do it into your later
- 6:58years, it is for sure what they call a neural killer.
- 7:03You ever wonder why when you drink you become dumb and you
- 7:08don't know where you're at and you know it's all you think it's
- 7:11fun. But when you're a professional
- 7:14athlete and you start drinking a lot of beer at a later age,
- 7:18like, you know, in your 40s, you just become Dumber and you drive
- 7:22worse and your senses aren't as good as they they should be.
- 7:27So I think Denny Hamlin leads a clean life, no smoking, no
- 7:32drinking, you know, might have a beer here or there, but you
- 7:36don't see Denny Hamlin. You know, I mean, he's just a
- 7:39pure athlete. He grew up loving basketball.
- 7:43He's got the basketball court now.
- 7:45He's been roughed up a little bit lately with some injuries.
- 7:47So he's been taking a little bit easier.
- 7:49But he works out and you're going to see drivers do two
- 7:56things moving forward. They're going to like, I've been
- 7:59racing since I've been five years old.
- 8:02So that that's the new thing. The kids start racing at 5.
- 8:07Like I asked Clint Boyer. I said, Clint, why did you quit
- 8:10at 42 years old? He says, Kenny, I've been racing
- 8:14since I've been a baby. A lot of these drivers start
- 8:17racing at five years old. They put they stick them in
- 8:19these go karts. Their heads are bobbling around.
- 8:22They hit 40. It's like racing at 60 years
- 8:25old. Look at me.
- 8:29I'm 62 years old and I just got done winning against hundreds of
- 8:34cars down at Volusia. I outrun the best down there.
- 8:38That's because I I live a clean life.
- 8:41I don't smoke, I don't drink. Now, certainly, I certainly I
- 8:45had some beers in my early days, But when I realized that liquor
- 8:48is a neural killer, especially the older you get out, I quit.
- 8:53So these these drivers can do what they want now, because
- 8:56times have changed. No more are the days, you know,
- 9:00David Pearson. Now, listen, David Pearson was
- 9:02young, flicking that cigarette out.
- 9:04But yeah, that's the story in the garage area right now.
- 9:08Danny Hamlin, 45 years old, still winning at a high level.
- 9:13How long can he keep this up? I don't see an end inside.
- 9:18Respond right here. How long can Denny Hamlin keep?
- 9:22That's going to be my headlines. Denny Hamlin is 45 years old.
- 9:27How many years can he keep winning?
- 9:30I think Denny Hamlin is bringing back the old guy age.
- 9:34All right, everybody have a great Tuesday.