Dale Earnhardt Jr’s season finale podcast featured the former NASCAR head honcho, Brian France. Following the release of the podcast episode, NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin took to Twitter to praise the former NASCAR boss. However, fans of the sport were not too happy to hear Junior and Hamlin’s stance on France.
Hamlin said, “After listening to this week’s DJD it’s apparent that we didn’t appreciate how innovative and creative B. France was for our sport while he was here. I believe we got too caught up on what he was doing outside of our sport and not acknowledging the job he was doing inside of it.“
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Soon Dale Jr. responded, “I can agree with this. And he admitted to some failings inside the sport that he thought would be successful. I was glad he was willing to own some of those things.“
Fans react to Denny Hamlin’s stance on former NASCAR boss
Fans were not happy to hear Hamlin praise the former NASCAR boss, Brian France. They soon lashed out at Hamlin for his views.
via Getty
WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK – AUGUST 21: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 21, 2022 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Fans reacted:
B. France? You're going to need to be more specific. Bill Sr. & Jr. had vision for the sport. Brian France had a vision to enlarge his wallet and absolutely nothing to grow the sport in a positive way. Brian France & his cast of clowns was the worst thing to ever happen to NASCAR
— brian acker (@fyredawgb) November 16, 2022
Respectful disagree
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 16, 2022
He was the beginning of the end imo, but seeing how the new leadership has been, I think it's safe to say that in some ways he's been a bit of a scapegoat for all of nascar's problems.
— Andy Trupiano (@Trup__) November 16, 2022
He ruined the prestige of the cup championship by introducing the playoffs. He was in involved with creating stages. He was in charge when the ratings tanked. He did a terrible job.
— Patrick (@mustang067_pat) November 16, 2022
Disagree. He can talk about growth, but under his watch nascar only contracted. He may be a nice guy, but he wasn’t the leader nascar needed when the seas got rough.
— Christian Budd (@ChristianBudd17) November 16, 2022
Brian France getting fired was the best thing he ever did for NASCAR
— Adam (@kerpinos) November 15, 2022
He'll always get a black eye for minimizing short track footprint, the COT, and playoffs. Then his actions outside the sport didn't help.
— Alex Kerner (@psychedalex68) November 15, 2022
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The playoffs have hurt the sport in every way imaginable, we’re better off without him.
— Jaylou ㋡ (@Jaylou_29) November 16, 2022
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While France did actually try to promote positive change, such as the push for diversity long before anyone else had thought to do so. However, his other controversial takes often clouded his good and often portrayed him as evil. The one thing that fans still dislike was the introduction of playoffs and the car of tomorrow, both of which came in France’s era.
Fans have often criticized France to have brought in such measures, they also blame him for arguably diminishing the fan base of the sport further. However, it might not have been France’s intention to do so. Yet the majority of fans perceived the contrary.
