It only seems like it happened overnight, that one moment Denny Hamlin was a young, somewhat quiet driver on the Sprint Cup tour, and the next he was tossing out opinions faster than Glenn Beck. In reality, it was a much more gradual transformation -- he won a few races, he became a little more comfortable around people like NASCAR president Mike Helton and series director John Darby, he became active in social media and started hearing feedback from fans.

And in the process, he found his voice.

“

I'm comfortable enough right now that I feel like, what's the worst that could happen if I voice my opinion?

”

-- DENNY HAMLIN

By the end of the 2009 season, it was one of the loudest in the Cup garage area. In an era when some drivers are reticent to speak out and others try to avoid controversy altogether, Hamlin has evolved into something of a throwback -- a driver unafraid of speaking his mind, even if his opinions aren't necessarily popular. Whether the topic is a NASCAR town-hall meeting, the nature of racing at Talladega Superspeedway, or retribution on the race track, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver usually has an opinion he's more than willing to share. They're always unfiltered and unedited. They're often needling or pointed. And they're rarely dry.

How did it happen? Over time. The native of Chesterfield, Va., recently completed his fourth full-time season on NASCAR's highest level, and has clearly become a driver comfortable in his own skin. That wasn't necessarily the case when he was a rookie trying to find his way in the sport.

"It's just reaching a comfort level within the sport, getting to know the people involved, whether that be [VP for competition Robin] Pemberton or Helton or John Darby. Just feeling a little more comfortable with them," Hamlin said. "I mean, what rookie is going to go out there and start raising hell and saying what they think? Because you don't know what your role is in this sport. And I still don't necessarily know what my specific role is, but I feel like I'll be here for quite a while, and I'd like our sport to be as strong or better by the end of my career as it is right now."

It's no coincidence that Hamlin's increased confidence and louder voice have come at a time when he's had to take on more of a leadership role at his own team. Like many drivers, he was in the shop often as a rookie to familiarize himself with people and procedures, but began showing up less and less as he started to grow comfortable both in his own career and with the personnel working on his cars. And really, there was no reason to do otherwise. For most of Hamlin's tenure at Gibbs, the organization had a strong, vocal leader in Tony Stewart, and everyone followed his lead. If it worked for Stewart, Hamlin figured, it would work for him, too. (Continued)