Jason Burgos
In a recent interview, NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin revealed that he was in conversations to team up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. at his father’s during the early days of his career.
Denny Hamlin has had a memorable run in NASCAR. After joining the racing circuit 17 years ago, he has stamped his place on the history of the sport by winning 50 races, including being one of just six drivers to win the legendary Daytona 500 three or more times.
Yet he hasn’t slowed down one bit at 42 and is currently second in the 2023 NASCAR standings as we head to the home stretch of the season. Unsurprisingly, his success this year has garnered a great deal of attention for him and it’s why he was the subject of NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck’s “12 Questions” column for The Athletic.
The series asks drivers a wide variety of questions beyond their exploits at the track. However, during the conversation, Denny Hamlin was asked if there was ever a major deal during his career that seemed possible but ended up failing during negotiations. And the third-ranked driver in our recent NASCAR power rankings had an interesting answer.
Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. nearly became teammates at DEI
“I don’t know how close it really was, but I was close enough with Dale Jr. to have those conversations about moving to (Dale Earnhardt Inc.). I didn’t even have conversations with executives, it was just him. So I never really was close to any other deals as far as any other teams.
“Now, as a driver who has representation, if something comes to me, it’s pretty much, ‘It’s here if you want to do it.’ Like, it’s not ‘Hey, letting you know this is what’s going on, it’s getting close.’ I pretty much know it’s either a done deal or not, and then I have the choice to do it.
“So my thought in my brain at the time was, ‘Man, I could go over to DEI and be teammates with Dale Jr.?’ I really contemplated that for a little while.”
– Denny Hamlin
This obviously happened in the very early days of Hamlin’s career and one has to wonder if he did join the team formed by Dale Earnhardt Sr., how would that have changed the career trajectory of Jr.? The younger Earnhardt eventually left his father’s team in 2008 to join Hendrick’s Motorsports. He would cease being a full-time driver in 2017 due to ongoing issues related to concussions.
An Earnhardt Jr. and Hamlin team, in hindsight, could have been a dynamite combination if DEI was able to replicate the success they had with other teams during their careers.
