Denny Hamlin shades Duke, compares himself to Houston after Final Four, win at Darlington

Denny Hamlin took a shot at the Duke men’s basketball team losing to Houston in the Final Four, after his victory at Darlington. During his post-race press conference, Hamlin compared his win to Houston rallying to beat Duke on Saturday night.

“This one certainly is one that I didn’t deserve really as a driver,” Hamlin said. “It feels good to get a win that you didn’t have the best car, you didn’t have race-winning speed, you just did your job just good enough to execute and keep the team in the game, right?

“Very similar to Houston yesterday, Duke dominated the game, but Houston just kept hanging around just enough and capitalized when the others couldn’t close. That’s what happened tonight.”

Denny Hamlin won on Sunday despite having led only 10 laps throughout the race. He claimed the victory after Kyle Larson spun out during the final laps and then had a strong restart in overtime.

More on Denny Hamlin, Duke and the Final Four

Hamlin’s victory is similar to what happened with Duke and Houston on Saturday night. Duke had a 14-point lead over Houston with eight minutes remaining in the game. But the Cougars kept attacking the Blue Devils and took advantage of some mistakes in the final minutes. Houston will now play Florida in the national championship game on Monday.

Denny Hamlin will compete for the Cup Series championship later this year since he’s won two Cup Series races. But can he get to 60 race victories (he has 56 now) before the postseason begins?

“I mean, truthfully it’s really 61, you know? I don’t know. I want to get it as soon as possible ’cause you never know when you don’t race anymore,” Hamlin said. “I think these wins early in the season certainly are beneficial to getting some pressure off for Playoff points. Certainly makes me feel good to keep piling on those wins.”

Hamlin also thanked his pit crew for helping him get the win. “This is truly a team sport,” he said. “When the pit crew has an opportunity on a green-white-checkered and do what they did like at Richmond a few years ago, take me from third to first, that is their Super Bowl. That is their moment to, like, show out.”