Denny Hamlin recaps 'five-week bandwagon' journey rooting for Ohio State in CFP

Denny Hamlin recently became an Ohio State Buckeyes fan and enjoyed their run to a College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship. In the 2025 premiere episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin discussed his new fandom of Ohio State.

“You know what makes things go really fast is riding the five-week bandwagon all the way to the natties,” Hamlin said while showing off his Ohio State national champions shirt.”

Hamlin also talked about getting the national title shirt while Ohio State was still playing in the title game against Notre Dame. “There may or may not be videos of us trying to take our shirts off in the third quarter,” Hamlin revealed. “Travis [Rockhold] is saying, ‘No, no. You put it back on. You put it back on. We had it underneath, so we’re peeling our layers off because it was like, ‘Oh, this is game.’ And then Notre Dame goes on to score like 14 straight. It was like ‘Uh, okay. We’re still fine. Everything’s fine.'”

Denny Hamlin then talked about his college football experience over the last month. “I’ll be honest with you when you jump on the bandwagon with the best team, it surely makes it easy and fun,” he said. Just to me, the atmosphere was the biggest thing I noticed being so different.

Denny Hamlin shares more on the Ohio State experience

“If I go to an NFL game, it’s a [Carolina] Panthers game and I’m not a Panthers fan by any means, Charlotte fans are suspect at best when it comes to their fandom. It’s like going to a library compared to going to when I went to The Shoe, and it is unbelievable. The crowd was so freaking loud at every play.”

Hamlin also revealed the best Ohio State game he attended. “The Cotton Bowl was my favorite event I attended maybe ever,” Hamlin revealed. “I don’t know what it was. The whole experience was great.”

Ohio State defeated Notre Dame in the national championship game 34-23 and won their first national title since the 2014 season. Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard was named Offensive Player of the Game and was selected to the All-CFP Team by multiple outlets. Ohio State included three All-American players — OL Seth McLaughlin, DB Caleb Downs and OL Donovan Jackson.

Hamlin looks to have the same success for the 2025 Cup Series season. He has yet to win a Cup Series title in his career but is off to a good start to 2025, finishing third in the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday.