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Ex-Yankees boss Joe Girardi admits to Kevin Harvick he is a big fan of 'champion' Denny Hamlin

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Justin P Joy | Last updated 4/12/24

Kevin Harvick has taken the NASCAR broadcasting world by storm as his role at Fox Sports isn’t just limited to commentating on the race like his fellow broadcasters. He has his own podcast and is also doing interviews with NASCAR racers as well as other legendary athletes from different sports. Recently in his podcast he interviewed ex-MLB star manager Joe Girardi.

During the interview the ex-New York Yankee boss Joe Girardi, revealed to Kevin Harvick that he is hard core NASCAR fan. When asked about who his favorite driver Girardi was pointed out that he is retired and didn’t reveal the name. He was then asked about his favorite active driver, to which the ex-baseball player responded by naming Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing.

He’s always in the mix, no matter what. That’s exciting to me because that’s a champion, a guy that’s always in the mix. Joe Girardi said via Happy Hour Podcast.

Girardi seems really impressed by the consistency of the three times Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and was ready to highlight this factor of the 23XI Racing co-owner as a true character of a champion. Hamlin as always is in contention for the championship in the 2024 season and Girardi will be expecting to finally see it happening this season.

Joe Girardi explains how he got into NASCAR

The ex-Philadelphia Phillies manager in the same podcast revealed that he got into NASCAR via long-time Yankees trainer, Gene Monahan. Girardi went with Monahan for his first ever race at Rockingham and it slowly became a recurring trend.

Gene took me to my first race in Rockingham, North Carolina, and then I continued to go with him a few [times] every year. Joe Girardi said.

In the podcast, the 2009 World Series champion also broke down his Daytona 500 experience with Monahan. He detailed how much he enjoyed spending time with the MLB trainer who had got a lot of connections within the sport.

Kevin Harvick’s talk with the legendary MLB figure, who is now a pundit, wasn’t limited to NASCAR. The ex-SHR driver being a big baseball fan used the opportunity to have a discussion about how the sport has changed over the years as well.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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