During the Hallway Interviews with Michelle Beadle, retiring NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt Jr. lauded Denny Hamlin’s notorious character in the high-octane sport. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is well-known for his ruthless driving style and for publicly chastising rivals after an on-track disaster.
Denny Hamlin debuted in the Cup Series over two decades ago in 2005. Since then, the Florida native has tamed the machines for JGR and collected 54 victories. Though the #11 Toyota driver has yet to win a Cup Series championship, his notable accomplishments have placed him on par with the stock car greats.
Hamlin has won three Southern 500 races (2010, 2017, 2021), reigned supreme at the Daytona 500 in 2016, 2019, and 2020, and has clinched the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 win. With that, his prowess is arguably among the top drivers.
However, the JGR driver possesses a ferocious on-track personality. At the 2023 Phoenix Race, Denny Hamlin purposely crashed Ross Chastain’s #1 Chevy into the outside wall and continued to slam the latter’s rear bumper. As a result, NASCAR fined the #11 Toyota driver $50,000 and deducted him 25 driver points.
Second, after winning the 2023 Bristol race and ensuring his spot in the next round of playoffs, Hamlin exclaimed at the crowd, “I beat your favorite driver,” which is still widely circulated in the community.
Knowingly or unknowingly, the JGR driver creates “problems” with his fearless attitude. While many people are taken aback by Hamlin’s persona, in a surprising turnaround of events, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has praised the 43-year-old as the “most exciting person” in NASCAR.
“Who is the most exciting person in NASCAR today?” Beadle asked Junior via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on X.
“I’m gonna say its Denny Hamlin. He’s got some good zingers, one-liners, keeps pushing people around it’s visible. He creates a lot of problems so it’s a lot of fun for me, Dale Earnhardt Jr. replied.
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