Denny Hamlin reveals thought process when he was on fire at Texas

Denny Hamlin made a surprising admission when talking about his No. 11 car catching fire during the NASCAR Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway race. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin revealed when he realized his car was on fire.

“Not until I stopped,” Denny Hamlin said. “I didn’t feel anything until I stopped. A lot of it was because the wind was pushing it back behind the car. But the smoke got bad really quick. When I came to a stop, that’s when the smoke started getting me pretty good.”

Hamlin went on to talk about the thought process after learning his car was on fire. “I haven’t been in that spot a ton, but you just don’t want to get burned,” he said. “You can feel the heat coming from wherever it’s coming from, but the smoke is the one thing that I don’t want to get in my lungs and stuff like that. You got the safety vehicle people, they’re spraying it with all the substance and whatnot. It’s just that, but I was able to get out fine.”

How did Denny Hamlin’s car catch fire?

The incident happened in Lap 75 of the 271-lap contest. Hamlin got out of the car under his own power and walked to the ambulance for a mandatory trip to the infield care center.

“It missed for like three-quarters of a lap,” Hamlin told FOX Sports (per NASCAR.com). “But other than that, no (warning), nothing. They’ll take it back and look at it.”

Because of the fire, Hamlin finished last (38th) in the race. “I didn’t want to let it try to blow all the way, that way, we could at least take a look at it, try to figure it out,” Hamlin said. “If you detonate them hard, then it’s really hard for the manufacturer to figure out exactly what broke first. But usually, the way it blew up, they’ll be able to find out.”

This was Hamlin’s first DNF of 2025. It has been a strong start to the season for the three-time Daytona 500 winner, as he has won two races and has finished in the top 10 six times in 11 races.