You’ve heard the saying: When you gotta go, you gotta go. But when you’re a NASCAR driver, that can sometimes complicate the issue. If you’re Denny Hamlin, it’s an eternal battle you’ve dealt with for nearly two decades racing in the Cup Series.
Fun fact: Hamlin has never peed inside his No. 11 Toyota Camry. Not once. That was true for 650 races, but all streaks are meant to be broken. And in start No. 651, Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, that streak came to an end. Hamlin finally did it. He peed inside his race car.
He detailed it all in Monday’s episode of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast.
Denny Hamlin goes into great detail about peeing inside his race car
“I was so thirsty [during] the second half of the race, but I couldn’t drink anymore because my body — I’m sitting there in the seat and I’m like, ‘Please, just let it go. Let it go.’ And I just couldn’t let it go. I just have never been able to go in the car. There’s something about it — It’s either I’m not holding it or I’m not standing up, something just doesn’t feel right to me and my body — it just hangs on. So, I’m sitting there in the red flag, and I get on the radio, and I say to the spotter, ‘What’s the hold up? Why are we red flag?’ He’s like, ‘Oh, we got a problem over here, they’re cleaning up a mess.’ I said, ‘All right.’ So, I’m looking at my clock… and I’m like, ‘There’s 20 laps to go, how many more yellows are there going to be? I just don’t think I’m gonna make it.’
“And my stomach is killing me. Like, I ain’t gotta go No. 2, I gotta go No. 1. But my bladder is just dying, and so I get to pit road and they’re working on the damage, and I just closed my eyes and tried to think of something that would make me go. And as soon as I got the first dribble, boom. It was warm, and then it was cold. I never felt what it felt like to pee in my seat. But I kinda liked it. Is that weird?”
Well, there’s that. It was warm, and then it was cold. And Hamlin… liked it?
Anyways, Hamlin managed to finish the race after taking care of some business but wasn’t a threat to take the checkered flag. Hamlin was involved in the wreck with 21 to go which brought out the red flag he referred to. Hamlin, who led 15 laps, finished 23rd.