Denny Hamlin weighs in on Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus' NASCAR legacy

Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus are headed to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, as the duo made up arguably the greatest driver-crew chief combination the sport has ever seen. You’ll get no argument from Denny Hamlin on that front.

During the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin weighed in on the legacy Johnson and Knaus left in NASCAR, and the honor the Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman had of racing against them.

“It’s still a great honor for Jimmie and Chad. Chad obviously, that was a deadly combination for such a long time, I had to race against them. I always said, I was unfortunate to race in the Jimmie Johnson era, because he was just man, he was a killer. He was a killer in the most polite way,” said Hamlin. “He never talked trash, he never wrecked you or got into you, he just was fast, and him and Chad found ways to beat you, even when they didn’t have a car as fast as yours, they found a way to beat you.

“So Chad had all but 11 ballots for him, which is good. I heard him say that he’s probably pissed off those 11 guys at some point in his career. I can understand that, but I think that it’s great that they’re going in together, and it’s great that they’re getting recognized for what they accomplished.”

Continuing, Hamlin waxed poetic about Johnson and Knaus’ success, and even put them above drivers like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, who he also raced against earlier in his career.

“Winning five in a row, listen, NASCAR keeps getting harder. Like, you know, what they accomplished, 80 wins, in which the era of which they did it, it’s just unbelievable,” added Hamlin. “Winning five championships with different cars, different formats, all that. They were tough. Maybe the greatest that this sport has seen. That’s certainly debatable, and you can have a long Skip [Bayless] and Shannon [Sharpe] debate on the greatest, but they certainly, I can tell you, I competed against Jeff Gordon and all these guys early in my career. Tony Stewart, Jimmie and Chad, they just, they were tough.

“They were a tough combination, and really, really proud of them for getting in.”

As you can see, Denny Hamlin has a ton of respect for NASCAR’s newest Hall of Fame additions. Unanimous or not, the duo was arguably more deserving than anyone in recent seasons, and they’re going to be hot commodities in Charlotte.