I had the unbelievable priviledge of getting to communicate with Denny Hamlin this week. I sent him an email and asked him a few questions in preparation for the upcoming Allstate 400 @ The Brickyard at the famed Indianapolis International Raceway. Following an essential off-week, the series drivers' last before the season finale in Homestead-Miami, I asked about his off time, his feelings about winning at Indy, Southside Speedway in Chesterfield Virginia and about calling him D Ham.
Here are the highlights:
"Hello Becca, Thank you for your questions, I would be more than happy to answer them for you. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask me. I will try to answer them if I can. Have a great week. Take care.
Denny Hamlin"
Do you own Southside Speedway? "Yes, as a matter of fact I do own Southside Speedway"
What would winning at the Brickyard mean to you? "Just like most drivers winning the Brickyard would mean a lot to me. Its a big thing for most drivers to win at the Brickyard."
If you could win just one more race what would it be and why? "In all? I would like to win at Martinsville again. Just because that is my home track and I have so many fans there. It meant a lot to me to be able to win there this year. So I would like to win there again in October."
Who would your dream teammate be and why? "I just want someone that is a team mate and helps out when necessary."
Do you watch NASCAR racing during your off weekends or when you aren't participating in the NNS or do you prefer to just spend time away from the track and focus on other things?
"I sometimes watch the race when I am off but most of the time I try to spend time with family and friends because I rarely have time to see them."
Do you mind if I call you D Ham? I LOVE it and hope you approve... " No I don't mind if you call me D Ham. You are more then welcome to call me that"
It was the highlight of my week to get to talk to my favorite driver. I had sent him a link to another blog that I have for him and asked him to check it out and let me know what he thought. D Ham only checks his mail on Mondays, but on a random Thursday I got an email for a comment that he had posted on that blog. I was blown away. So I sent him this message:
Hi D Ham~
I just got your comment on my blog. Thank you so very much for checking it out and for posting a comment. It means so much to me to have you visit my blog and to see first hand how hard I work on it. Knowing that you promised to look at it and honored that promise really touched me. You truly are a class act! I hope that you will check back when you have the chance. I just can't find the words to express my gratitude to you. I knew when I picked you as my driver I chose a special one...and you proved that to be more than true.
Your grateful fan!
Becca
The reply that I got was very special to me. Take a look at it:
"Hello Becca,
You did an amazing job on the blog. I remembered that I had promised you and I never break a promise to anyone. I am glad to have you as a fan. Keep up the good work on the blog. I will stop by there as often as I am able to. I hope that you have a great week. Take care.
Denny Hamlin"
During a busy week spent with family and friends, he remembered a fan who he had never met and the promise that he had made to her. And he thought enough of her to leave a comment on a seemingly unimportant blog. That is beyond incredible to me. Those are the things that people remember and that is why I am a Denny Hamlin fan.
I get a lot of email with complaints about Denny, how he's cocky, arrogant, a whiner, and other things that have me fuming mad by the time I have finished reading them. My DELETE button is on fire by time I clean out my inbox every day. I have taken up for him, defended him and stood by him through thick and thin.
His one act of kindness made it worth every breath I took to prove people wrong. And they are wrong. He remembers that the girl from WV who writes his blogs is the reason he got into NASCAR. He remembers that the people he spent his off week with are there for him whether he wins a race or finishes dead last. They love him when his hair's standing up in funny directions and when he's not so nice to be around, I mean come on he can't be roses and sunshine all the time. I think he saves that for when he knows I'll be watching.
If I had a million words at my disposal to try to write a proper thank you to Denny I couldn't find words that would properly express my gratitude. There are certain times that Thank You is simply insufficent. This happens to be one of those times.
So I have thought about how I would go about expressing my appreciation of D Ham and his genuine caring about this speechless fan. I have decided that I will pray that God blesses him beyond measure. I will continue to pray for him before and during every race, every flight I know he's on and let someone far greater than I am repay D Ham for his thoughtfulness.
Oh yeah and I'm gonna cheer louder, cry harder and buy more Fed Ex merchandise. I'm gonna ship Fed Ex, not that I didn't before but I'm gonna ship more often, and I'm gonna tell anyone who will listen how remarkable Denny Hamlin is. I know first hand just how great he is and I will be his biggest fan because I picked the classiest guy on the race track.
D Ham is in Indianapolis preparing to take on the famed Brickyard. I hope he wins...it would be such an awesome thing to get to see him win another one for Joe and JD Gibbs. And you know, I've been thinking about his answer to my question about only winning one more race and what he would want it to be. I'm glad to know he's forgotten about Richmond and the heartache of losing there. I was heartbroken for him and knowing that it is now just a distant memory, or atleast I hope it is, makes me feel better. I'm sure if given the chance he would still give his Lear Jet to win a Sprint Cup race there, but I am grateful to hear that he's focused on where he did win and let go of where he didn't. That's what true character is all about.
