Denny Hamlin Under Fire, Facing a Twitter Takedown for Bashing a Fan Over “Not Real” Statistic

Recently, some NASCAR fans did some sleuthing and uncovered an interesting statistic. According to them, the 2023 Cup Series season has witnessed the most green-flag overtakes in history. According to them, the official number of green flag passes for the lead this season is 442, while the number of overall overtakes is 39,992. However, Denny Hamlin was not particularly convinced and challenged the statistic.

According to the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, most of the overtakes occur during green-flag pit stops. Hamlin insisted that any overtakes that occur when cars are on the pit road are counted as overtakes in the stats column. As a result, there are hundreds of overtakes that are not genuine. This pretty much triggered a massive debate among fans, with many agreeing with Hamlin. However, there were several others who challenged his statement.

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Fans counter Denny Hamlin with detailed arguments

Some fans challenged him, suggesting that overtakes during green flag pit stops should be counted as overtakes. Few were caught up in the semantics of the debate, saying that the study simply said overtakes and did not specify what kind. It is also worth mentioning that the NASCAR loop data was introduced around 2007, and since then, the number of overtakes has skyrocketed.

Few people even wondered how the number of green flag stops had increased. Especially considering that stages exist in the sport, which defeats the purpose of green flag pit stops. One fan decided to be a bit helpful in Hamlin’s case. They pointed out that NASCAR had published some charts on social media where it showed that there was plenty of action. Some also said that there were others who got on Hamlin’s case for complaining.

Others agreed, saying that all he seemed to be doing lately was complaining. According to them, he was just mad that he has not won a single race so far this season. Few people even said that the 2007 overtaking data would have also included green flag pitstop overtakes. So in that case, the 2023 data is true and is actually a good thing for NASCAR. One thing is for sure, this debate is probably going to rage for a while, though it is unlikely that a resolution will be reached.

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