It is true how Denny Hamlin and the NASCAR fandom enjoy a love-and-hate relationship. While the Joe Gibbs Racing driver loves to instigate the fans with his banter, the community enjoys bashing the #11 driver for his comments. However, things took a wild twist when Hamlin put out a bold warning to his Cup Series rivals ahead of the race in Nashville.

With over 600 Cup Series starts to his name, the #11 driver has everything to boast except for a championship to his name. While his form in the 2024 campaign has been nothing short of amazing, it will take a special effort to go all the way for the first time in his career.

Denny Hamlin uses a high level of motivation ahead of the race at Nashville Superspeedway

Winning 54 Cup Series races is certainly not a joke. While Denny Hamlin has achieved that, his hunger to win his first-ever championship remains as fresh as ever. To prove his point, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has performed at the highest level in 2024 with three wins to his name in just 18 races.

While he has booked his place in the playoffs, there’s still plenty to do for the #11 driver. Hamlin currently lies 40 points behind both Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in the standings. With his first target being to clinch the regular season title this campaign, a win at Nashville Superspeedway could turn handy immensely.

With that in mind, Denny Hamlin raced almost perfectly in the qualifying race. Having turned a fast lap of 160.354 mph (29.859 seconds), he not only claimed his second pole of the season but also the 42nd pole of his illustrious Cup Series career. Interestingly, it is his second pole in Nashville in the four races the track has hosted.

Unfortunately in the last three races, Hamlin has struggled to win at the 1.330-mile track. In those three races, the 43-year-old finished once in the top five and twice in the top ten. With P3 being his best finish at the track, there’s certainly hope of going all the way this time around.

As is the case with Denny Hamlin, he is not at all short of confidence. Just before the race in Nashville, he used an unexpected source for motivation, signaling a strong intent for a win to his Cup Series rivals. The act came through his social media account.

Hamlin is seen using the motivation speech used by trainer Teddy Atlas to pump up boxing athlete Timothy Bradley from November 2015. In the video, Atlas said, “Are you ready for the fire? We are firemen. WE ARE FIREMEN! The heat doesn’t bother us. We live in the heat. We train in the heat.”

He continued, “It tells us that we’re ready, we’re at home, we’re where we’re supposed to be. Flames don’t intimidate us. What do we do? We control the flame, we control them. We move the flames where we want to. And then we extinguish them.”

While that’s some way to be motivated, it certainly should set the right tone for the race in Nashville. Surprisingly, even the fans enjoyed Hamlin’s approach.

Denny Hamlin gets the fans’ support with his war cry to win in Nashville

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A win at Nashville Superspeedway is of paramount importance to Denny Hamlin. In his last three races, he has finished 24th or worse, letting slip of an impressive run. While the gap between him and leaders Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott isn’t massive, the race in Tennessee could help him narrow it.

While it isn’t going to be easy, Hamlin winning the pole position should help his cause. Not only that, but his motivational approach before the race has surprisingly brought the fans together in support of him. One of them reacted positively by using the minimum amount of words. He said, “Get em champ.”

Interestingly, the post came across a retired fireman. Luckily, he took in the right sense and had an interesting insight into it. He said, “As a retired Fireman, it’s not hard understanding that many other occupations are just as ‘hot’. Thanks Denny!”

Another fan backed Denny Hamlin with a positive message. He said, “Park that thing in VL today!!” Most certainly, this is the type of manifestation that Hamlin would welcome. However, it is interesting to see how he would feel about the rumor used by a fan where the comment said, “Maybe just drink a cup of water before the race starts”.

If that was a mood changer, so was another where one fan reminded him about his poor finishes in the last three races. He said, “Hopefully your car doesn’t s**t the bed this week.” Surely, Hamlin wouldn’t be bothered with such comments as the positivity from the fandom was enough to outweigh such negativity.

Having said that, it is interesting to see how he performs given his pole position. Can he register his debut win in Nashville on Sunday? Well, we’ll soon find out.