While it’s no secret that Denny Hamlin is one of the most controversial NASCAR drivers in recent memory, the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing has always backed up his off-track shenanigans with his wins. But what happens when the very reason behind his win is controversial? Now that the community can’t seem to get enough of dissecting Hamlin’s jump start on the final restart of the Toyota Owners 400, the 23XI co-owner seems to be running out of patience with playing the ‘Villain’ role in the sport. So when the veteran called out for some help from his friends on X, Kyle Larson’s racing series stepped right up to answer that call.
Denny Hamlin has reached his boiling point
When the #19 JGR Camry of Martin Truex Jr lost to the #11 of Denny Hamlin at Richmond, the latter felt he had won owing to the team’s pit-stop superiority. However, after Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s VP of competition, revealed that the #11 had in fact jumped the restart by a couple of inches, all hell broke loose on X. Fans began calling out the veteran for snubbing his equally experienced teammate, feeling that the end to the Toyota Owners 400 wasn’t as fair as it was made out to be.
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Over the past few days, drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr have also shared their concerns about how the Hamlin incident would set an unwanted precedent for the future. If NASCAR didn’t penalize Hamlin for his obvious jump, would the sport be equally forgiving to others in the future too? With that said, the community began to question Hamlin’s win over Truex Jr, and whether NASCAR should have taken a harsher approach to assessing the end.
With the hate piling up, it seems like Denny Hamlin has finally had enough. The JGR veteran took to X and shared his frustration. He stated, “I sure wish someone would come out with a new paint scheme or something. Ain’t y’all tired of talking about the same thing for 48 hours now? Our team won the race because of the pit crew. Not the restart. Y’all just sour. GET OVER IT!”
I sure wish someone would come out with a new paint scheme or something. Ain’t y’all tired of talking about the same thing for 48 hours now? Our team won the race because of the pit crew. Not the restart. Y’all just sour.
GET OVER IT!
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 2, 2024
Fortunately for Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson’s High Limit Racing series had just the right livery in mind! Teasing a virtual sprint car with the FedEx paint scheme on it, they took to X and shared; “Found a new paint scheme, Denny. See you at Riverside next Tuesday? You can ride over with @KyleLarsonRacin and @StenhouseJr.”
Found a new paint scheme, Denny. See you at Riverside next Tuesday?
You can ride over with @KyleLarsonRacin and @StenhouseJr. pic.twitter.com/v4SnnWCeNe
— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) April 2, 2024
While it’s safe to say High Limit Racing had a rather enticing proposition for Denny Hamlin, fans took a banter-filled approach to challenge the NASCAR veteran to step into the world of Dirt Racing.
The NASCAR community tries to provoke Hamlin into making a dirt racing debut
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Although Denny Hamlin is one of NASCAR’s most experienced active drivers, the #11 JGR driver has rather limited experience when it comes to dirt racing. Throughout the three dirt Cup Series races at Bristol, Hamlin secured one podium in the inaugural event but then failed to finish higher than 22nd. Naturally, some fans were quick to point out Hamlin’s lacking dirt racing portfolio.
A user also called out his jump start at Richmond as they shared, “He’d get called out for jumping there 🙄” Other fans were also in the mood to challenge the 23XI co-owner; “That’d be too much for @dennyhamlin to drive. He’d loop it going into turn one. ;P” For a driver that talks about peeing in his seat very often, users felt Dirt Racing’s high intensity would pose a major hurdle for Hamlin.
The fan joked, “Denny would really piss his pants in one of those.” While others once again reminded him of his jump start, going against what Hamlin had originally tweeted. One user shared, “Denny, Just keep in mind if you jump start they penalize you two spots” while another was more supportive, “Please do this!!”
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Denny, Just keep in mind if you jump start they penalize you two spots
— Larry Herritt (@larsherritt) April 2, 2024
Taking a rather sassy approach, one user said, “@dennyhamlin wouldn’t make the show in a 900 hp @WorldofOutlaws #sprintcar – so going @HighLimitRacing might be the better option.”
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At the end of the day, do you think Denny Hamlin will take on this challenge thrown at him from High Limit Racing and the fandom with great confidence? Or will the jokes about his jump start continue all season long?
READ MORE: ‘Educated’ Denny Hamlin Found NASCAR’s Solution to Stop Drivers Duping on Restarts