Will Denny Hamlin join the Miami posse of Lebron James? The opposite is unlikely.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – It’s all about the South down here. No drawls. No plantations (well, there is a city near here called Plantation). But there’s South Beach, and the geography is unmistakable. Homestead-Miami Speedway may not be Southern but it’s as south as the United States of America gets.
NASCAR takes its traveling show to most parts of the country, but it doesn’t get much glitzier than this. Juan Pablo Montoya held his annual South Beach gala – or soiree or extravaganza, or whatever – on Thursday night.
In other big news, Denny Hamlin met LeBron James.
“It was just at our hotel, basically,” said the Sprint Cup point leader. “One of the guys that I know, that works at the hotel, asked if I cared to meet him, and I said, ‘Of course. Sure.’ I just briefly talked to him for just a second. It really wasn’t anything too big. Obviously, he’s one of the most interesting guys of the past year, so it was good to experience that.”
Asked if the NBA star knew anything about NASCAR, Hamlin said not too much.
“He’s heard of it. I don’t know,” said Hamlin. “I really didn’t ask him too much about to be honest with you. I got to thinking, though, I was sitting there and looking around and the scene around him, and what-not, and I was thinking, why in the world would he leave Cleveland for this?”
It may have been a bit like the time Red Grange visited the White House. Grange was introduced to Pres. Calvin Coolidge, who was told, “This is Red Grange of the Chicago Bears,” and the president replied, “I’ve always enjoyed animal acts.”
NASCAR is known here. Every Chase has ended here, not to mention the seasons of 2002-03 before there was a Chase. NASCAR holds its grand finale in a city made famous at various times by Jackie Gleason, Tony Montana and Dan Marino. It’s going to take at least a Montoya championship to make NASCAR a household name.
Or maybe Hamlin can win the championship and thus earn a place in LeBron’s posse.
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