75-year-old Hawaiian brand to debut with Denny Hamlin at EchoPark Speedway

Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team will have King’s Hawaiian on board for this coming weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Echopark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway. It will mark the company’s first time as the driver’s primary sponsor. Notably, 2025 marks King’s Hawaiian’s 75th anniversary.

Back in January, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that they had signed a multi-year agreement with King’s Hawaiian. Under that agreement, it was stated that Hamlin would drive the No. 11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE in four Cup Series events in 2025.

The Quaker State 400 is hence the first of those four races. The others on the roster are Daytona International Speedway on August 23, Bristol Motor Speedway on September 13, and Martinsville Speedway on October 26.

The good news is that Denny Hamlin has won at all four racetracks. Speaking of the newfound alliance, the Tampa, Florida native said in a release,

“We’re very excited to welcome King’s Hawaiian to our team. It’s certainly a product we are very familiar with in our household and a great brand that has made a strong commitment to our sport. I’m looking forward to all the exciting things that we can do on and off the track to elevate their program to the next level.”

Besides backing Hamlin in four points-paying races, King’s Hawaiian will serve as the No. 11 team’s associate partner throughout the season. As per Jayski, such a deal at JGR is “valued in the low seven figures annually.”

17 races into the season, Denny Hamlin sits third in the championship standings with 545 points to his name. He has three wins already and is going for his fourth.

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Denny Hamlin reacts to NASCAR’s next rumored street race destination

There have been rumors that the NASCAR Cup Series might make a trip to San Diego for the first time in its history to host a regular-season, points-paying race in 2026. Recently, Denny Hamlin expressed his thoughts on the same.

Following the closure of Auto Club Speedway, formerly known as California Speedway, in 2023 for renovation, NASCAR was reportedly looking for options to host an event in Southern California. Speaking of it on his Actions Detrimental podcast (via Yahoo Sports), Denny Hamlin said,

“I don't hate it. I certainly think that San Diego sounds like a place I'd like to go. I mean, sure, I guess." “It seems like they're really in favor of street races out. So, if they're hellbent on it, San Diego seems like a destination to do that,” he further added.

For now, all eyes are on Atlanta Motor Speedway for this coming Saturday’s race. The 260-lap event will stream live on TNT Sports, 7 pm ET onwards. Fans can also listen to radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma