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Denny Hamlin has become possibly the most hated driver in all of NASCAR. The question may now be to ask how this happened, how Hamlin went for a relatively non hated driver to the most despised in the sport. From costing wins to popular drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson to playing the heel among fans Hamlin has made himself into the biggest villain in all of NASCAR. This is Denny's villain arch. Why Denny Hamlin is hated.
Video Credits:
ABC Sports
asstdictator
Black Flags Matter
Dale EarnhardtJr.'s Dirty Mo Media
Deleted Account
EA Sports
ESPN
FOX Sports
F1 Austin
MetalHead88x
Motorsports on NBC
NASCAR
NASCAR on FOX
NASCAR Productions
NASCAR Thunder 2004
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NBC Sports
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Thumbnail Credits:
Getty Images
NASCAR
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Outro Song:
Strange Animal (Crowder Remix) by Gowan
Songs:
This Time (Instrumental) by Depswa, uploaded by MetalHead88x
Guilt (Instrumental) by Fingertight, uploaded by MetalHead88x
#NASCAR #Motorsports #racing
40 comments
Do you love or loathe Denny Hamlin?
Loved him since 2006
Loathe
It’s a mix of both..I love the achievements he’s reached, hate how he is.
Love Denny Hamlin
It’s one of those and it ain’t love
NASCAR fans: we need more personalities
Also fans when Harvick, Preece, Busch, Wallace, and Hamlin shows personality: they’re crybabies
And yet the most popular driver has one of the most boring personalities I’ve ever seen
That’s why there were a bunch of people hoping off the Chase wagon even before the move he made on Hamlin. Dude seems pretty depressed
ON GOD BRO! If you want personality, stop simping for Chase Dahmer.
Nailed it. I was a life long Jeff Gordon fan. I threw my support behind chase when he replaced Jeff, but dude has the personality of a brick.
You forget that about 80 percent of NASCAR fans have little to no education in like anything. Hypocrisy is strong with those guys.
I used to hate Denny when I was a kid. I gained respect from him somewhere around 2013. Nowadays I’ve been neutral towards Denny. I respect his accomplishments and talent. That’s about it. So, yeah.
@crystaljon I don’t blame you, tbh. I either like drivers respect, or neutral to some. There are some that I don’t like, but sometimes my dislike for some drivers don’t last forever
Denny is the kinda guy that would get someone in trouble even tho that person didn’t even do anything
He’s the bully who goes and beats a guy up and than manages to convince the school it was the other guy’s fault
That’s why his wife left him
@Mel Turnboo or cause she took false accusations of SA against him at face value and didn’t wait until evidence came out.
Yes, a Narcissist, confront him with strength and he will lay on the ground and cry.
@Mel Turnboo He was never married, but okay lol
For me Denny is a villain that I personally don’t like. Joey Logano is the perfect NASCAR villain who doesn’t give two shits on what he does to you while being able to take the majority of the time.
It’s the way he deals with situations. He’s always preaching about lack of respect on and off the track, but does what everyone else pretty much do on the track. Whenever he does something to them, he shrugs it off like it’s nothing, but when it happens to him, he whines about it (Excluding Chase Elliott at Charlotte). That’s Hypocritical if you ask me.
Here’s the thing. Denny did that to chase. And chase said he wasn’t gunna take it from Denny. And (I believe meant to door Denny bc chase does door guys. But misjudged it and hooked Denny instead) and Denny threw a tantrum for a guy essentially standing up to a bully lol. That’s what rubs me wrong
@Triston Webba right rear hook isn’t acceptable no matter the circumstance
@LS_812Denny’s dump also wasn’t a right rear hook, was 6 years ago in 2017, and was at Martinsville a track that isn’t particularly fast.
The track chase did it at was Charlotte, a track that the walls are essentially caked with the blood of dead driver. The wall Denny hit has killed several drivers in NASCARs history, just a dumb move
@Triston Webb he’s a professional race car driver , if he can’t judge a door slam and “accidentally” right hooks him he should be on the track.
Could feel the disdain for this guy at SRX Stafford. For him to then win that race as everybody was leaving to avoid the rain and him was kinda priceless.
No rain Newman wins that race
Denny’s run-ins with Ross and Kyle at Pocono are so similar (literally with running positions too), I woulda thought they were the same race if Denny was running FedEx as his primary in both races. Great upload that well summarized why DH is so polarizing. I’m more on the dislike side, but I know not to laugh at what he’s accomplished, 50 wins total including 3 Daytona 500s is no slouch.
I was neutral on Hamlin and actually thought he didn’t seem like a bad guy until he started gaining popularity and then he decided that he could call foul on anyone else even when he’s in the wrong. He wants to pretend he’s a saint while acting like a dirty devil on the track. It’s the pompous nature and his attitude about it that started to rub me the wrong way. Say what you want about the Intimidator back in the day or Kyle Busch now, but I have had way more respect for those guys because at least they’re honest that if you make them mad you’re going in the wall.
Well it seems right now, Denny has taken over the spot that Kyle Busch had occupied for the last 15 years as the top heel in the Cup Series. And honestly, I love it.
The sport is in desperate need of guys with personality anyway, and Denny fits the bill by being a perennial contender, being brash, and being very opinionated about things revolving around the sport. (And people don’t like him anyway because he comes off as whiney in their eyes–and it’s true to a certain extent–but usually, he has a spot-on take on things, IMO)
The last couple of years, I would have classified Denny as a rejected babyface, for the way he had been done dirty by some of his other competitors, yet he would still be booed MERCILESSLY by fans anyway. I feel like now, Denny has made it a point to be more aggressive out on the track, fan reaction be damned.
People will realize what he brought to the sport when he retires. The entertainment, the wins, the memes, the moments. People love and hate him and he gets people talking and brings entertainment to nascar. The sport needs this!
People love to hate aswell. Hell I tune into Warriors games to cheer them to lose and cheer whenever HMS does well
My first signs of hatred towards him was when he dumped chase in 2017 other times before that i didn’t care, I was pulling for Ross in the rivalry. I was pulling for him to sweep Daytona possibly in 2021 for speedweeks after forgiving him in his Talladega controversial win in 2020. He really tested my patience this year but despite the horrible ending to Pocono race. I had so a major outburst to finish and the way Hamlin acted period.
I can’t wait for driver introductions at Bristol, I think I’m more excited for that than the race itself
Never been a Hamlin fan but he has talent. His actions upset fans and I think it’s good to have a villain or two in the lineup.
What did it for me was when i noticed a big change in his attitude. In the early years he seemed a little bland, not hated but not widely liked, and i was never really a fan, and i actually felt bad for him when he broke his back in the accident with Joey logano at fontana in 2013, but after he dumped Elliott at martinsville and showed absolutely zero remorse i hated him. And he has been that way ever since, races dirty and doesn’t care but loses his mind when people race him dirty
I’m down for Denny Hamlin villain arc. He really has been on the short of the stick of stuff recently, so it’s about time he does stuff about it. Only thing he needs to do (and NASCAR needs to allow) is him owning it
Does anyone remember early in his career when he had his entire pit crew changed because he blamed them for a poor race? Hamlin did have 3 lousy stops in that race, but 2 if them were because of his mistakes hitting the box correctly. (But as we all know, Denny never does anything wrong)
Yep! Perfect example!!
I think this has cemented Denny’s identity as the sports heel. KB has simmered down over the past few seasons and he’s a Chevy driver now, so that leaves someone to be the villain. I honestly hope Denny keeps doing it too. Storylines alone help keep me invested haha