The elimination race at Bristol ended with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin taking the win in dominant fashion. Despite having strong cars at Darlington and Kansas, Hamlin finally made it count this time around, with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson coming in second. After the race, the #11 driver was greeted with a swarm of boos from the fans, something that has been a pattern this year.
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At the post-race presser, Hamlin opened up on riling up the fans, and how he deals with the fact that despite being one of the most successful drivers in the modern era, he has not yet won over the fans.
Denny Hamlin does not care about NASCAR fans hating him
The three-time Daytona 500 winner was asked if there was a point in his career when he decided to play to the hate of the fans and play to their taunts.
Hamlin said, “Yeah, I mean, at some point I got to realize 18 years in that I’m probably not going to win the most popular driver award (smiling). I’ve come to the conclusion of that. I understand it.”
“Yeah, they think they bother me. But clearly it’s having an opposite effect. I welcome any fan to want to come to the dark side. All five of my fans are still out there chanting my name. They’re over in turn three right now.”
“But yeah, as Cat Williams said: A hater can’t stand a winner,” Hamlin concluded.
Interestingly, after the race, while Kyle Larson was talking, loud jeers could be heard targeting Hamlin, something that made the #5 driver smile.
What did Kyle Larson make of the crowd booing Denny Hamlin?
After the Pocono incident, there was a period of a lot of back-and-forth between the two drivers who are good friends off the track. So what did Larson make of the crowd’s reaction?
“The fans love him (stops and smiles) ... Was a fun race, I mean, he did a great job, you got to respect.”
A classy response indeed, proving that the Hendrick driver was indeed over any bad feelings after their previous altercation. Overall, the race was incredible for the 2021 Cup Series champion, who started from the rear and went through traffic to finish second. On if his team could have done anything more to win the race, Larson conceded to the 23XI owner.
“Denny was just really good, his car was really good, and he did a really good job through traffic.”
The 2023 playoffs have started on a high for Larson, with one win and two second-place finishes, and give him all the momentum in the world to make a run for a second Cup Series title.
