Denny Hamlin’s former rival breaks down how chaos fuels the 44-year-old JGR star's success in NASCAR: ”Everything around him is in turmoil” 

Once foes on the racetrack, Kevin Harvick is now singing Denny Hamlin's praises following the latter's fourth win of the 2025 season. The 2014 Cup Series champion applauded the driver of the #11 for having the on-track success he's had despite the outside distractions going on around him.

As a driver, Harvick praised Hamlin on the most recent episode of his "Happy Hour" podcast for being one of the top drivers this season. Off the racetrack, the former driver of the #4 explained it's been nothing but easy for Hamlin as a co-owner of 23XI Racing.

Harvick said between his team's ongoing lawsuit with NASCAR to his drivers Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick "not running great," everything outside of racing has been difficult. Yet, Harvick believes Hamlin thrives through the challenges presented to him.

"Everything around him is, maybe it's not a disaster, but it's in turmoil. Now, you've got to go all the way into the end of the year to have this December trial and everything with NASCAR, your cars are unchartered, you've got a new baby at home, a newborn child at home that you're trying to figure out how to balance life, but I think he does better when it's like that. I really do," Kevin Harvick said. (16:01 onwards)

Denny Hamlin led 67 of 407 laps and fended off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe for the victory on Sunday (July 20) at Dover. The race went beyond its scheduled 400-lap distance with two overtime restarts. It was Hamlin's fourth win of 2025, second straight win at Dover, and 58th career Cup Series victory. The Chesterfield, Virginia native became the first back-to-back winner at Dover.

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Denny Hamlin drops humorous photo following Dover NASCAR Cup win

Following his fourth victory of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, Denny Hamlin posted a humorous photo to social media cradling the "Miles the Monster" trophy from Dover. The photo is a play off the recent affair scandal involving Astronomer CEO Andy Byron at a Coldplay concert.

Hamlin took to X with his arms around the Dover trophy, similiar to how Byron was spotted at the Coldplay concert with the company's HR head. The 44-year-old made reference to the scandal in his two-word post, which read:

"Dover’s CEO"

With four wins in 2025, Denny Hamlin is currently the winningest Cup driver this season. His victories came at Martinsville, Darlington, Michigan and Dover, respectively. In 20 starts this season, Hamlin has totaled 10 top-five finishes, four stage wins and is currently fourth in the points standings.

Hamlin is still seeking his first Cup Series championship in his 20th season of racing. He finished runner-up to Jimmie Johnson for the title in 2010 and has also made four appearances in the Championship 4 race (2014, 2019-2021).

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Edited by Luke Koshi