DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – No. 88 team spotter Kevin Hamlin has had a busy few weeks – and all of it has revolved around Daytona International Speedway.
This Sunday, he’ll spot for Alex Bowman as the Daytona 500 officially kicks off the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Last month, he spotted for a completely different type of race – the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“The good part about it, maybe, is that a couple of these guys have never had a spotter before, so, we just do our deal and they adapt to us,” Hamlin explained.
One of the most important parts of a spotter’s job in the Rolex 24 versus the Daytona 500, Hamlin said, is switching up NASCAR terminology like “loose” and “tight” and “pit road” that might not be familiar to some of the drivers.
Other than that, he shared that the job is essentially the same – and both races at Daytona are equally coveted in the racing world.
“Daytona putting on the Rolex 24 and the Daytona 500 so close together, both races, obviously, I would love to win,” Hamlin said. “We’ve had really good cars here in the past with teams I’ve worked for and something has happened late in the race. They’re both very hard races to win. For both of them to run so smoothly really pays testament to Daytona.”
Hear more from Hamlin in the video above.