Denny Hamlin got candid about his being a podcast host and his relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. While speaking to former NASCAR star Kenny Wallace, Hamlin talked about how his Actions Detrimental podcast got started.
“Dale Jr. saw that I was making headlines when it came to my media availability each and every weekend, Hamlin said. “There was always hot topics, it was safety, it was this, it was that, it was the NextGen and competition, all this stuff. What you would see was be like little snippets of articles of maybe one quote of one line of what I said, and it wasn’t the full context of what I was talking about.
“And he’s like, ‘Man, I understand you because I know what you’re saying, I don’t think the fan understands you. I think you need to have a forum and platform to explain and you need more than 20 minutes to do that when you need to talk about hot topics and in the sport.’ He finally twisted my arm enough to do it. I’m like ‘Well, tell me the obligation. How much effort I’m gonna have to put into this thing?’ He’s like, ‘Listen, we’re going to have it all set up for you, highlights will be on your phone as soon as the race is over, we’re going to have all the driver’s comments so you can be up to date with what’s going on.’”
Hamlin continued: “I said ‘Alright, I can do that.’ We’re a year and a half into it now and certainly, it has changed the dynamic. I feel like my voice certainly has dome weight within the sport. …NASCAR listens to what’s on social media.”
Denny Hamlin shares surprising news on his future with Dirty Mo Media
Along with talking about how Actions Detrimental got started, Hamlin also gave an update on his contract status with the podcast and Dirty Mo Media. “I’m not really sure what the future is going to bring. I don’t know that I’m with those guys through the end of this year and then we’ll figure out something from there,” Hamlin revealed.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity that Mike Davis and Dale Jr. have given me with the platform. From the very beginning, they said, ‘This is your podcast. If you ever want to go do your own thing, it’s your podcast, we just want to help distribute it and whatnot.’ They’ve done me a very solid job, and I’ve been very happy with that.”
Hamlin added: “Where it transitions in the future, I don’t know. It has spurred some conversations with current TV partners and things like that. What happens when I’m done racing? What can they do with me while I’m racing? It certainly has given me the opportunity to grow my brand far beyond being just the race car driver, and I’m so grateful for that.”