Denny Hamlin Comes to Joey Logano’s Defence Over “NASCAR Fans Are Spoilt” Comments

Joey Logano’s comments about NASCAR fans being spoiled last December drew a lot of flake in the aftermath. From fans to drivers, many criticized the Team Penske star’s words,, forcing him to provide clarification. Though it has been quite a few weeks since the incident, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin has now provided support for Logano.

With the 2024 season a hand’s reach away, Hamlin brought back Actions Detrimental, and in the first episode of the return, he took his chance to weigh in on Logano’s opinion. “I think it was taken a little bit out of context. It’s certainly not what he meant,” he said. “He just meant that our fans have a ton of access, compared to other sports, we have a ton of access.”

Following a discussion with Jeff Gluck, Jordan Bianchi, and his co-host Jared Allen, Hamlin made strong points in the defense of Logano. However, he also noted how sponsorships helped increase driver appearances back when he was a kid. Talking about the old fanbase, he mentioned how they used to schedule their day based on where they could find the drivers.

In his words, “They were at — for Davey, they were at the gas station. Dale Earnhardt was at a dealership. So it’s the activation within the sponsor, and how they activate the sponsorship that they actually have. That’s probably why you see less driver appearances because the sponsorships are pieced together.”

Despite the transformation of external factors such as sponsorships, Hamlin reaffirmed that no driver on the grid was saying no to appearing more for the fans.

Joey Logano’s clarification for his words about spoiled fans in NASCAR

A week after his comments on ‘The Morning Drive’ on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Logano clarified that his words were blown up out of meaning. He said, “We had the classic, pot-stirring click-bait thing that was taken out of context and then blown out of proportion. That’s what happened.”

Continuing to detail his intention, he added, “Here is what I said: I said our race fans are spoiled because of the access they get compared to other sports, and that got taken out of context as ‘Joey Logano says race fans are spoiled’ and that’s what not what I said at all.”

Both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, in their opinions, talked about their experiences as a young fan and how they wanted to create similar memories for the growing race fans.

Perhaps the solution does lie in the sponsorship format as the JGR star lays out.