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NASCAR Weekend at Watkins Glen International is upon us. Three days of racing in the Finger Lakes begins on Friday with the Craftsman Truck Series race at 5pm, the green flag will drop on Xfinity Series Race on Saturday at 3pm and the NASCAR Cup Series Race is set to begin at 2pm on Sunday.
In anticipation of the weekend, News10NBC Investigative Reporter and NASCAR Fan Jennifer Lewke and her 8-year old son Jett spoke with NASCAR Driver Denny Hamlin. Hamlin has 4 wins, 11 top 5’s and 12 top 10’s so far this season.
Full interview:
Jennifer Lewke (News10NBC): “What do you like and not like about Watkins Glen, you’ve won here before but it’s been a while.”
Denny Hamlin: “Yea, I like Watkins Glen, I think it races almost like an intermediate type track with our cars, it’s one of the highest speed road courses that we have. My favorite thing about Watkins Glen has nothing to do with the racetrack though, it really is kind of the infield there, we’ve seen people come out in huge numbers to hang out in Watkins Glen infield. The midway there, the fan area is filled with different activations and stuff, there’s tons of stuff to do so, I’ve explored around that racetrack and it’s been a blast.”
Jennifer Lewke: “What I also love about Watkins is they let you, as fans, drive the course in your own personal car, I’ve done it with my two sons and my husband and the S’s, we got up to like 80 and then I made them pull back, I was like okay, this is getting a little crazy… the race itself and the track… it’s fast for a road course.”
Denny Hamlin: “It is, it’s extremely fast. It’s fast but it’s technical. Like when you talk about the S’s…that’s probably the most treacherous corner that we enter on all of our circuit. Is turn 2 there, so the car really unloads and then you’ve got to switch back the other direction into a blind corner, it’s really, really difficult. And certainly, I’ve only been able to win there one time so it tell you that race track has its own challenges.”
Jennifer Lewke: “You mentioned the experience of it all, I think that’s what it is for a lot of folks who spend the weekend at the Glen…I mean, we have the Buffalo Bills here, we have other professional sports, but you don’t really get as close to the stars of the sport, I think, as you do in NASCAR, how big of a role do you think that plays in expanding the sport beyond just the hardcore NASCAR fans?
Denny Hamlin: “Well, that’s the difference in our sport than others, it is the access. You’re able to more than likely get an autograph or take a picture with your favorite driver just an hour before they’re getting in the race car. You never get that access to the locker room in any other sports and so the access is what makes us different. You’re not just going for the event itself, you’re making a weekend out of it with your family or friends and getting to explore all that Watkins Glen has to offer.
Jennifer Lewke: “Are you ever able to explore beyond the track when you’re in Upstate New York?”
Denny Hamlin: “I check out the town a little bit, I do try to golf when I’m in that town.”
Jennifer Lewke: “Denny, if you don’t mind, I kind of have a special guest off to the side, it’s my 8 year-old, he is a huge NASCAR fan and he happens to be a huge, Denny Hamlin fan.”
Denny: “Hey, my man!”
Jennifer Lewke: “This is Jett, he wanted to say Hi, I let him stay home from Summer camp, did you want to ask Denny a question?”
Jett (Jennifer Lewke’s Son): “Yes, and by the way… I met you before as you can see in this picture.” (Jett holds up a photo from Watkins Glen in 2023 where he is posing with Denny)
Denny Hamlin: “I see that. Man you got the hat and the shirt and everything! What’s your question bud?”
Jett: “At what was the age you knew you wanted to be a NASCAR driver?”
Denny Hamlin: “I was 8 years-old.”
Jett: “That’s my age right now!”
Denny Hamlin: “Yea, well let’s see that’s the first time I got into a go-cart. I went to a race when I was 5 and at that point, I smelled the tires and fuel and saw all the cars that were roaring by and I was like, “oh I love this” right? And so, at that time, back then, you couldn’t get into a go-cart until you were 8 years-old so, my parents bought me a go-cart when I was 8, I got in, they showed me… this is how you go, this is how you stop, this is how you steer and they sent me around this little dirt track and when I went around there they saw that I was getting it sideways and correcting it, and they’re like… “oh, he’s got good car control” so–like maybe we’ll put him in a race in a few weeks, so they put me in a race and I won my very first race. You give an 8 year-old a trophy and a go-cart and it’s like… this is what I want to do, I want to be a race car driver!”
Jett: “And um…What do you think about SVG at Watkins Glen, do you think he’ll be a challenge to race with?”
Denny Hamlin: “Yes, I think he’s going to be a challenge to keep up with, more than anything. He’s just really good on the road courses obviously, he almost won last year and then if you think about it, the team he was with was not as good as the team he’s with now. So, I think he’s going to be extremely hard to beat, I’ll be lucky, I just want to keep him in sight during that race, that’s my goal at Watkins Glen, I’m going to keep him in sight, get us a top 5 and get out of there.”
Jennifer Lewke: “Thank you so much for your time and for taking Jett’s questions. He’s always one, when we were at Daytona last year, he’s always one to stick up for you against people in the crowd who throw those boo’s your way.”
Denny Hamlin: “I like that! Yea, you cheer alright!”
Jett: “Yea!”
A limited number of tickets are still available for NASCAR weekends at Watkins Glen International. For more information, Click here.
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