One of the key ingredients of many great movies is the presence of a great villain. Be it Heath Ledger as Joker or Josh Brolin as Thanos, their impact on the storyline and ability to pose a threat is immense. Like the theaters, NASCAR racetracks have also witnessed the origin stories of many villains. With time, the fanbase has seen the likes of Kyle Busch and Darrell Waltrip, and to some extent, Bubba Wallace takes up the role of bearing the hate and criticism of the community. But Denny Hamlin could very well be another name that makes that list after the Cup Race in Pocono.

Coming to the current scenario, Hamlin will be coming into Richmond with a great win at Pocono to bank upon. But the events between him and Kyle Larson at Turn 1, with seven laps to completion of the race, land him in a spot of criticism.

“I’m too old to care”: Denny Hamlin on the hate thrown towards him after Pocono

Hamlin is in his 17th season as a full-time driver in the Cup. 17 years imply a vast amount of experience and familiarity with the sport. And Denny, despite taking his 5oth Cup win on Sunday, was subject to a great deal of scrutiny by the fans. But speaking to the media in a post-race press conference, he says that this is something that is a part of being a driver in one of the biggest stages of motorsports.

“Are you embracing this villain role?” asks a correspondent following his tussle with Larson.

The 42-year-old in response to this question, said that the time for addressing the issues around his public image is long gone. A reasonable statement considering all that he has contributed to the sport over the years.

“I mean, I’m just too old to care. Had I gotten another 20 years ahead of me, I get it. Fandom doesn’t give me trophies. Fandom doesn’t do the job for me. In my career, just had some pivotal moments getting into guys when they were super popular, I just kind of wasn’t,” said Hamlin, describing the difficulty of his profession.

Denny has indeed tangled with some fan favorites in his career. This season, he has been involved in controversy for contacts and crashes quite often. Incidents with popular drivers like Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson only make the situation worse, but the Pocono winner feels that it is a part of the game and the fandom will always have polarizing opinions about drivers.

“I’m okay with it because the fans are passionate about what they saw. I think if you were a Denny Hamlin fan, and there was that many, then maybe you’d hear the same thing.” 

After all these years, if there is anything Denny has completely mastered, it is the skills to win a race and the mentality to endure hate from the fandom.

Read More: Denny Hamlin Doesn’t Shy Away From Provoking Angry Pocono Crowd as NASCAR World Calls Out Championship-less Driver’s “Hypocrisy” & “Lies”

“I’m just not that likable”: Hamlin going the Bubba Wallace way

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Hamlin is very familiar with another driver who has been subject to a great deal of flak over the past few seasons. The #23 Camry driver for his team 23XI Racing, Bubba Wallace has not heard a good shout from the fans for the most loved drivers in the Cup. Recently, the hate surrounding him went to an extent that he got his radio hijacked at Charlotte by haters who later spewed hate speech on the radio.

Last month, talking to Chicago-Sun Times, Bubba opened up about staying true to his goals and filtering out the hate, saying, “I’m 50-50 liked or hated, but that’s OK. I can go to sleep at night knowing that I’m being myself, and that’s just who I am. We’ve got to feel more comfortable just being real and being real about what we do.”

His team owner Hamlin seems to take a cue from the Alabama native’s thought process as he dives deeper into the possible reasons for all the hate on him. Hamlin said at the post-race conference, “I don’t know, I never really resonated with fans for whatever reason. I got here on hard work, the old-fashioned way. I’m just not that likable, which is okay. I mean, I think I’m just not one of those good ol’ boys, right?“

He then adds that in the pursuit of being liked by the fans, he could not allow himself to let go of his authenticity as a driver. He said, “I’m myself. I am. Try to treat people really well, do the right things, let the fans cheer for whoever they want. But as long as they’re making some sort of noise, it’s okay.”

The conclusion to Denny’s statement shows his interest in the welfare of the sport. Even if the audience jeer Hamlin on a track, he believes that as long as he gives them something to make noise about, it’s beneficial to him.

Watch This Story: Denny Hamlin Warns Bubba Wallace To Watch Out Amid Creeping Playoff Desperation