Denny Hamlin reacts to delivering Toyota's 200th NASCAR Cup Series win, what it means

Denny Hamlin delivered Toyota’s 200th win in the NASCAR Cup Series over the weekend. The veteran wheelman drove his way to victory in tremendous fashion at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway).

It meant a ton to Hamlin to be the one to notch No. 200 for the manufacturer. On the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, the veteran wheelman spoke to the honor of being Toyota’s flag-bearer on Sunday.

“I did. I get an email report for the weekend of kind of like my schedule. Here’s what we got planned. And it was highlighted. It was highlighted that Toyota was at 199,” Hamlin explained, regarding whether he knew he won No. 200 for Toyota at the time.

“It’s important because I knew I’m not gonna be around here for 300, right? So this was my last opportunity to get a, you know, a big monumental win for Toyota. This was my last chance. So, I certainly was very motivated to make sure that I was the one that did it.”

As you can tell, win No. 200 for Toyota was a huge moment for Hamlin, and something he’ll cherish moving forward. Later in his podcast, the Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman took some time to put everything in perspective, reminiscing about Toyota’s growth in the Cup Series and beyond.

“Twenty years ago or so, they came into the sport, into Cup racing, and they came in with a lot of skepticism. If you had told them then, ‘Hey, 20 years from now, you’ll have 200 (wins),’ that’s a big number. Would you take it? They would have jumped over the moon for that,” Hamlin added.

“They had early struggles in the Cup Series and just weren’t very good. It was the new-manufacturer blues, and it was back when you had to come up with your own simulation—when the teams were essentially the manufacturers. They went through those struggles, but when they paired up with JGR in 2008, I believe it was the best decision for both. It got them the results they were hoping for. What you’ve seen since then is a manufacturer that contributes so much to U.S. motorsports.

“They’ve got their own racing league that they run. They’re all in on motorsports. You’ll see them at your local dirt track. Toyota has a presence from the grassroots all the way up to the Cup Series. It’s because they believe in motorsports and what it brings to their brand.

“When you look at the true fan surveys from the last 10 years or so, the sentiment back then was, ‘Would you buy a Toyota?’ And the answers were no. Fans pushed back: that’s a foreign brand. But since then, Toyota has invested so much in U.S. manufacturing that most of their vehicles are actually more American than the American-brand manufacturers.

“What they’ve done in motorsports has also changed how fans feel about Toyota. They were always known as reliable—that was their M.O. Then it became, wow, they’re building cutting-edge, great-looking cars. And now, on the motorsports side, it’s clear they’re giving back to the sport we love, across all forms of racing. It’s great to see them finally getting the payoff from that investment.”

Alas, Hamlin delivered No. 200 for Toyota, and now he’ll hope to take their relationship one step further with a championship. Time will tell if he can get the job done for the first time in his career later this season, when it’s time to push all your chips to the center of the table.