Has Denny Hamlin Taken NASCAR Villain Role Too Far With Recent Marcus Smith Spat?

Denny Hamlin has well established himself as the villain of NASCAR over the past couple of years in the sport. However, his recent altercation with Speedway Motorsports President Marcus Smith may have stretched it too far. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver started the rage-filled back and forth between the two parties after he passed a snide comment on a picture posted on X,  showcasing the eroded track surface of the newly paved Sonoma Raceway.

When paving on a budget goes wrong. NWB will be next. https://t.co/pXcqrFCXMW

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 5, 2024

The JGR veteran mentioned, “When paving on a budget goes wrong. NWB will be next.” Not long after, Smith responded to Hamlin’s comments, “This is a great post from somebody who doesn’t know all the information. Ignorance on display for the world to see!” Smith then went on to say that he would be willing to delete his tweet when Hamlin either sends him a text or calls him up to get more information on the subject.

However, the JGR driver did not seem keen to hear Smith out and instead tweeted, “You don’t need to delete. We’ve seen your reconfig record.” Not long after Smith retaliated by taking a shot at the fact that Hamlin hadn’t won any championships in his career. “Yes we take risks, sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. We’ve seen your attempt of the championship as well. When you have a chance, maybe you could give me some golf tips,” he added.

Denny Hamlin gets personal with retaliatory comment

Sure Hamlin has not been able to win a championship yet, but he sure has several other accolades to his name. At the moment the JGR veteran is aiming to hit the 60-win mark and with his 2024 progress, it seems that the milestone is not too far away. Hence, when Hamlin saw Smith mocking him for not having any championships to his credit, the 53-time Cup Series winner retaliated with a tweet of his own.

“Here’s your tip. Let someone else run your business before you blow everything your dad gave you,” said Hamlin. The back and forth between the pair continued for a while until both parties later decided to retract their statements and call a truce. Smith admitted that he shouldn’t let conversations on social media get personal and deleted his previous tweets. Meanwhile, Hamlin also took responsibility for his choice of words during the argument, suggesting that things got a little too personal.

Ill cosign this. I’ll definitely take responsibility for my part in it. It got more personal than it should have for sure. https://t.co/ppcqp0HlGo

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 5, 2024

Well, the argument between the two was harsh and both individuals may have crossed a line with their respective comments. However, at the end of the day, it’s a good thing to see that both Smith and Hamlin have mutually agreed to not squabble over social media regarding subjects like these.