Danica Patrick Makes Peace With ‘Total A**’ Denny Hamlin With a Bold Joey Logano Claim

Published 04/03/2024, 10:53 AM EDT

Danica Patrick was the last woman driver to compete in the Cup Series, and she made sure to leave a mark there. Making 191 starts from 2012-2018, Patrick fetched seven top-ten spots. She also left a lasting memory of on-track drama, between her and the current NASCAR villain.

Denny Hamlin has a penchant for riling up his fellow drivers. As it turns out, his legacy continued for years. Hamlin recently, at Richmond, arguably jumped the restart zone in Richmond. But Danica Patrick recently pardoned Hamlin’s frustrating tactics.

Danica Patrick absolves Hamlin of his villainous personality

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Patrick and Hamlin were known to be friends off the race track. However, the start of 2015’s Sprint Cup season cast a shadow over that friendship. In the qualifying Duels race for the Daytona 500, Danica Patrick was driving in eighth place. Then with three laps to go, Hamlin hit her car twice, spinning her out into the grass as she collided with with Brian Scott and Bobby Labonte. Following that race, Patrick gave Hamlin a piece of her mind.

Recently, Patrick got into an enlightening conversation with veteran driver Kenny Wallace. Patrick confirmed Hamlin’s wrecking attitude, albeit with a twist. “I think he’s a total ass on the track. Like he’s pissed off so many people. Not as many as like Joey Logano, let’s say.”

Joey Logano’s mention spurred Wallace’s interest, as he asked, “Hold on. Who’s worse, Denny or Joey?” Patrick answered, “Good question. They both have some enemies. But I think Joey has more. You know, I had issues with both of them.”

Yet evidently time does heal all wounds. Danica Patrick went on to pat Hamlin on the back for his clean performance on race tracks. “On track, I think he’s more fair than a lot. And I’ve always had a pretty decent time on track with him, other than these moments where it just feels like he just pushes too hard, and doesn’t leave room for error. So I don’t think he’s as bad as some.”

Although Danica Patrick has not fared so well in the NASCAR Cup Series, she scripted history in Japan. She became the first woman to win an IndyCar race there in 2008. She left full-time Cup racing in NASCAR in 2018. However, Patrick’s encounter with Hamlin drew her back to NASCAR in 2022 when the two drivers talked it out.

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Hamlin attributed his harshness to Patrick’s ‘loose’ car

In NASCAR’s vocabulary, the term ‘loose’ refers to a situation where a stock car’s rear front tires lose grip on the track as they round corners. This contributes to fishtailing, which aggressive drivers like Denny Hamlin take advantage of to the utmost degree. Appearing on Danica Patrick’s podcast Pretty Intense, Hamlin explained that Hendrick cars are always made like like that.

“There’s just a group of cars, and I think at the time y’all might’ve had a Hendrick alliance,” Hamlin added, which Patrick confirmed. “They always run their cars so loose that it’s really hard to work with them. Even to this day, it’s kind of the same old thing, but you know I wanted to help…But you have to make aggressive moves, and sometimes that comes at other people’s expense.”

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Denny Hamlin may have earned a place in the good books of Danica Patrick. But considering the time it took for Patrick to calm down, it does not look like Hamlin’s current enemies are going to forgive him soon.

Danica Patrick Bashes “Way Too Long” NASCAR Races as She Posits Glamorous F1 Over Stock Car Racing

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Written by:

Sumedha Mukherjee is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports who is known for her in-depth track analysis as well as her lifestyle coverage of Cup drivers like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. Inspired by the Kiwi's journey so far, Sumedha has also written pieces on Shane Van Gisbergen, predicting how the Supercars Champion would do in the new and unfamiliar American setting. Pairing her research skills with her vast experience as a writer, Sumedha creates stories her readers can easily get lost in.

Edited by:

Shreya Singh

Danica Patrick Makes Peace With ‘Total A**’ Denny Hamlin With a Bold Joey Logano Claim

Danica Patrick absolves Hamlin of his villainous personality

Hamlin attributed his harshness to Patrick’s ‘loose’ car

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