Denny Hamlin has opened up on his plans for the million dollar prize he received for winning the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday.
The Joe Gibbs Racing star has been openly critical of the revamped All-Star format for 2026, as well as taking a points-paying race away from Dover to give it the All-Star festivities, but didn't allow that to distract him from the business at hand once the race went green.
Hamlin led a race-high 103 laps of the 200-lap 'proper' All-Star Race (apparently the two 75-lap stages to set the final field don't count, despite everyone having to race them and risk getting caught up in wrecks – as Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott were) in a dominant performance to take home the million dollar prize.
The 45-year-old racer was asked immediately after the race what he had planned for the prize money, and admitted: "Probably give it to mama."
NASCAR RESULTS: Denny Hamlin lands $1million payday after superb All-Star Race drive
Hamlin's All-Star windfall heading to his mom
He was asked the question again in his post-race press conference, explaining: "Mom needs some furniture for her new house."
Hamlin's mother Mary Lou suffered a tragedy over the winter, losing her husband Dennis in a house fire which also left her with serious burns. The house is no more, as he alluded to in his answer.
The fire's effects were even more wide-ranging than expected, with Hamlin revealing in February that he fell while sifting through the debris looking for any of his parents' belongings which might have survived.
That fall aggravated a shoulder injury which he had surgically repaired back in 2023, leaving the veteran racer to struggle through the 2026 season with the injury until he has time for further surgery and the associated recovery in November.
"It’s kind of hanging on," he explained back in February. "It’s torn, but it’s still got a little few parts and pieces hanging on that I need to keep intact for the full year.”
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