Fanboy Denny Hamlin Elated Over Dwayne Johnson ‘Throwing Him A Bone’

Dwayne Johnson, popularly known by his moniker in the WWE, The Rock, has been an integral part of a lot of people’s childhoods. It turns out that Denny Hamlin was one of those people, as he could not suppress his fanboy persona when talking about “The Great One” on a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast.

The Joe Gibbs Racing star had a lackluster performance in the Daytona 500 on Monday, of which Dwayne Johnson was the Grand Marshall. He recently made his return to WWE and, to a lot of people’s surprise, turned heel for the first time in perhaps two decades, garnering hugely positive responses from the fan bases.

Denny Hamlin expresses joy after Dwayne Johnson acknowledges him

On Sunday, after it was announced that The Great American Race was postponed to the next day, Johnson spoke to the media at the Daytona International Speedway and elaborated on his heel persona in the WWE. He invoked NASCAR’s villain Denny Hamlin as he drew parallels between the JGR star and the most recent evolution of The Rock character in professional wrestling.

His comments brought a laugh out of Denny Hamlin who had the honor of meeting the “People’s Champ” at Daytona. The driver of the #11 car spoke like he was a fan of The Rock who felt pretty good about the fact that the former WWE champion knew who he was. For a fan, it is always a special moment when your favorite celebrity acknowledges your presence and it was the same for the 43-year-old driver.

“I did. He had his media availability and kind of threw me a bone here and there. Obviously, it related to kind of what his role now is in the WWE. So, it was really cool to hear someone like him kind of bring up your name and he was aware where you existed and kind of knows what your role is in the series,” Hamlin said when his co-host Jared Allen asked if he met The Rock.

Another thing Hamlin was quite happy about was the turnout at The Great American Race. Racing fans from all over the country either had to wait an extra day or go back to their homes after the 500 was postponed from Sunday to Monday due to poor weather conditions. But that didn’t deter audiences as they pulled through to be present at the main event. 

Read More – Denny Hamlin: Ross Chastain’s Wreck-Triggering Move Cost Him a Daytona Championship

Joe Gibbs Racing star hails Daytona 500 turnout despite rain delay

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A lot of fans decided to stay back and skip work just to see the 66th running of The Great American Race and that’s something that really impressed Denny Hamlin. He spoke highly of those who decided to stay back and expressed his pleasure when he saw the packed grandstands at the Daytona International Speedway on Monday.

“They started coming in early, around 12-12:30. The line into the fan zone was super long, and it was great to see how full the stands were on Monday. You gotta think…a lot of these people traveled. Probably the Daytona 500 has the largest, I would guess, traveling crowd, right from outside the area. I’m sure most of them had to go to work on Tuesday. For them to stick around, it was awesome to see,” the Joe Gibbs Racing star added.

He might not have finished where he wanted to in the 66th running of The Great American Race but seems to have had a decent experience overall despite the adverse weather conditions everyone has had to deal with.

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