Analysis: Turns out hard work has always been Hamlin’s secret weapon

It's hard to fathom as Denny Hamlin grinds away in a simulator for several hours a week (while also racing, managing a Cup team and raising an expanding family). But his focus and work ethic were once questioned (and rather unfairly) in the first half of his NASCAR career. RELATED: No. 11 pit crew on propelling Hamlin to Darlington win He burst out of nowhere as the fresh-faced rookie who won four races and contended for a championship in 2006, and the whispers began soon afterward. Denny Hamlin partied too much. Denny Hamlin dawdled with owning a nightclub and cultivating his brand instead of worrying about improving behind the wheel. Denny Hamlin was more likely to be seen courtside at Charlotte Hornets games or on the links with PGA stars than in the halls of Joe Gibbs Racing. As with many negative narratives, those observations portending the downfall of Denny Hamlin now are laughable. They certainly have aged much more poorly than Hamlin, whose career resurgence at 44 years old is largely because he puts in the work as much as any superstar in NASCAR -- and he always has since his father bought him a go-kart with certain conditions. "He said, 'You maintain it, and you clean it because it's not my hobby, it's yours,'" Hamlin told Kevin Harvick on the "Happy Hour" podcast last week. "You don't get to enjoy just the spoils of winning and driving. You have to grind and fix your wrecked cars. That instilled a work ethic that lives on today and applies to everything I do." Hamlin is doing a lot in everyday life. Overseeing Year 5 of his plan with co-owner Michael Jordan to build a powerhouse that can beat Hendrick Motorsports, JGR and Team Penske, Hamlin keeps his hand in everything from competition and sponsorship at 23XI Racing. Within a few months, he will become a father for the third time with fiancee Jordan Fish. And he is balancing all of those personal and work interests while excelling at his full-time job. With consecutive victories at Darlington Raceway and Martinsville Speedway, Hamlin has claimed sole possession of 11th on the all-time NASCAR win list and tied Kyle Busch as Gibbs' all-time winner with 56 victories. What's his secret? It's as simple as hard work, which in this case means Monday mornings inside a dark and windowless room staring at computer-generated images. Turning endless laps in a high-tech driving simulator might sound like mindlessly logging hours with entertaining video games. But this is sheer drudgery, unlike any PlayStation. "One of the things about going in the sim, it's hard work," team owner Joe Gibbs said. "Honestly, I think Denny is in the sim as much as anybody we have, any of the young guys. He stays after it. You get somebody that age that still has the drive to get it done ... I think Denny has a real drive, and I think we're fortunate to have him." It bears repeating that Hamlin is at least 14 years older than teammates Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs. He is way past needing to prove himself, but he has been doing exactly that with new crew chief Chris Gayle, who was impressed by Hamlin texting about setup information into the wee hours the night before Martinsville. "I've been surprised at how hard he does work," said Gayle, who estimated Hamlin puts in at least seven hours weekly in the simulator. "As he's gotten older, he's had to almost ramp up the amount of work he's done, where he may have gotten by earlier without doing that. He probably doesn't have to. Some of the other guys don't. He does it to be a part of the team." Though Hamlin is an early-stage Millennial who grew up in the video game age, simulator work is oft putting for many Cup veterans. Some retired in recent years and cited simulator obligations as a major reason. But Hamlin has increased his simulator workload, taking on all of JGR's needs. "I only trust myself to do it," he said. "I don't know why. That's just the control freak in me to want to have everything absolutely perfect. I put a lot of work in. It's for the benefit of all Joe Gibbs Racing. They reap the benefits. "Yes, they don't love it as much as probably I do, but I enjoy the process of being good at it. As I've gotten older, I've realized that I'm not going to win these races on raw talent anymore. I'm going to have to outwork people. I'm going to have to look at things that maybe other people aren't looking at. I've learned to win it more with my mind than I have with my talent." Saying he "can count on two hands" the number of rivals with more ability, Hamlin sees no other way than to put his head down and keep toiling away. "I'm not going to say it's easy," Hamlin said on Harvick's podcast. "But all the things going on in my life are the things I love. I'm not doing anything I don't love." The adage goes that if you find something you love to do, you never have to work a day in your life. Maybe it also explains why Hamlin was once so overlooked despite always toiling away. Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the new "Hauler Talk" show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.