Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson shares advice to Denny Hamlin on playing the bad guy
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson offered some advice Sunday to Denny Hamlin and gave a hint of how he will give the command to fire engines before Monday’s Daytona 500.
Johnson, the professional wrestler and world-renowned actor, will stay for Monday’s rain-delayed race and give the command to fire engines at 4:18 p.m. ET (green flag is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET).
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Johnson has turned heel in professional wresting and noted that Hamlin is playing a similar role in NASCAR.
“The villain is the greatest thing in the world,” Johnson said Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. “It truly is. Now in my world of professional wrestling, I was aware of Denny getting booed and also, I think, impressed with how he has embraced it.
“I also feel like everybody wants to be the good guy … the good girl. Everyone wants to be loved and cheered and considered the hero, which is great and it’s natural, it's human psychology and desire. But I felt in my career and through my experience … the rare air is when you have the opportunity and you grab it by the throat and you don’t let it go. That’s the opportunity to be a great bad guy.”
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Johnson also offered his advice to Hamlin.
“The best and greatest bad guys and villains out there, bad guys, bad girls, villains, are coming from a place of truth,” Johnson said. “One of the cool things that being a great bad guy and a great villain offers — and this is my advice to Denny, is not only do you embrace it but you also get the opportunity to say and do a lot of things that people can’t.
“A lot of people wish they can, but they don’t so you don’t have to. Let me and Denny do the talking and get the boos.”
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Johnson also addressed how he will give the command and what he’s looking forward to seeing Monday.
“What I hope to experience is really what I have been experiencing, which is just this incredible electric energy,” he said. “I liken it to my world of professional wresting where there’s a lot of people and the fans are so incredibly passionate and the greatest part about being a performer is that you get to connect with the audience. You get to connect with the fans. … I think it’s about 101,500 is the sellout (for the race), which is really cool.
“I want to experience that. I want to experience that (Monday). I know I’m going to experience it. This is why I didn’t want to leave. I had to stay to experience that.
“My plan for the iconic words of ‘drivers, start your engines, is just not to to screw it up. That’s all and maybe sound halfway cool when I do it. But also I want really want to make sure that my words and my energy is a reflection, a respectful reflection of what the drivers need from me and also what the fans need to kick the race off and to certainly kick the season off.”
