Come on Denny, you’ve got to embrace it.
NASCAR has had plenty of villains over the years – drivers that fans love to hate, or just plain hate.
Guys like Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch…all served as the heel in the NASCAR Cup Series at some point in their career.
And right now, it seems like Denny Hamlin has emerged to take on that role – and it’s one that he’s happy to fill.
The driver of the #11 car for Joe Gibbs racing and co-owner of 23XI racing alongside Michael Jordan is one of the most polarizing figures in the sport. Denny is aggressive both on the track and off, and he’s never been afraid to ruffle feathers, like when he taunted fans who were booing him after a race at Bristol in the fall.
“I beat your favorite driver. All of ’em.”
And he ran it back when he won the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum a couple weeks ago:
But it sounds like Denny’s going to be retiring his new catchphrase after taking some heat – not from NASCAR fans, but from his own dad.
On an episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny revealed that he got a text from his dad, Dennis Hamlin, expressing his displeasure for the “beat your favorite driver” line, because apparently pops thinks it’s too cocky.
So Denny’s taking his dad’s advice and retiring the catchphrase:
“I’m going to listen to dad on this one. ‘I beat your favorite driver, all of ’em’ is officially going to go down in the history books. It’s done.”
@dennyhamlin BREAKING NEWS: The “I beat your favorite driver” era is over 🪦 #nascartiktok #nascar #sportstiktok #fyp #clashatthecoliseum ♬ original sound – dennyhamlin
And Denny confirmed the decision during an interview with Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports…where Denny left the door open for a new catchphrase:
“No matter what, no matter how loud the crowd is, I promised by dad I would not do it…
He didn’t say I couldn’t come up with something new. He just says, ‘You can’t say that.'”
Although it sounds like Denny’s going to follow the letter of dad’s law, but maybe not the spirit:
“I told him I would not say those words again. That does not mean I will not come up with something else. And then he’ll call me again and say, ‘Don’t say that.’ And then I’ll say, ‘Ok, I won’t say that again.’ And then I’ll just come up with something else.”
Sounds like Denny’s playing a little cat and mouse with dad here…so I guess we’ll have to wait until he takes a checkered flag to see what he’s come up with now.
And it could come as soon as today, with Denny as one of the favorites in the rain-delayed Daytona 500.
