Denny Hamlin Retires Iconic “I Beat Your Favorite Driver” Punchline, Names His Dad’s Dislike Behind Heartbreaking Decision

For Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, riling up the fans is perhaps one of his favorite hobbies. NASCAR fans have always had a mixed reaction to the driver of the #11, which usually leans towards the negative. Hamlin does not shy away from retaliating, and one of his best lines, which he uses after winning a race, is “I beat your favorite driver.” The 43-year-old, however, recently revealed that he would not be saying that any longer.

The JGR star was victorious in Saturday’s Clash at the Coliseum and during a post-race interview, he repeated the iconic line yet again. However, that might be one of the very last instances of fans hearing it.

Denny Hamlin admits his iconic line is not as funny as before

As the NASCAR season got underway in Los Angeles with the Clash, the Dirty Mo podcasts are back with it. One of them is Denny Hamlin’s Actions Detrimental. It was on the latest episode of this show that he revealed his decision to give up on “I beat your favorite driver” and the reason behind it. It turns out that the Joe Gibbs Racing star’s cockiness is something that his family members cannot take at times.

Apparently, Hamlin’s father asked him to stop saying it. Hamlin said, “Breaking news: I’m gonna retire the ‘I beat all your favorite drivers’ because I got a text and those of you saw the Netflix special with my dad, he sent me a text. He says, ‘Son, you got to stop that. I don’t like it, it’s just too cocky’. I’m gonna listen to dad on this one, so we’re gonna retire, that’s the last time. I think jokes are always funnier the first time you say it, not the second, or third, or whatever anyway. We’ll come up with something new next time around but ‘I beat you favorite driver, all of them’ is officially going to go down in the history books, it’s done.”

The driver of the #11 car had no intention of saying it in the first place at the LA Coliseum. In fact, after he won the season-opening race, he felt that the fan reaction was positive. However, that was before he stepped out of his car and faced the reality of things.

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Joe Gibbs Racing star puts the blame on fans after Clash victory

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When asked when he decided to say that iconic line again, the 43-year-old revealed that it was right at the end of the on-track interview after he won the race. Hamlin was seen taking a moment to speak to the fans without being prompted by the interviewer. And that is when he let it rip.

“I was fine. Me and the fans, we were tight. There were cheers and I was feeling in, there were vibes and everything and all of a sudden, she starts wrapping it up, the interview, and I just hear this…it was like a tsunami of boos. It started just coming, and it kept getting louder and I’m like…I need to remind these folks one more time,” the #11 driver added.

Now that everything else is out of the way, Denny Hamlin has one job: Focusing on winning his first-ever Cup Series championship. The Clash was a good start and he will be looking to carry this form next weekend into the Daytona 500, a race he has won 3 times in the past. Will he be able to get the perfect start on Sunday? 

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