NASCAR: Full Speed has lived up to its hype. The Netflix collaboration had earned rave reviews before its release and continues to do so, thanks to its incredible production. Among the nine playoff drivers in the documentary’s cast, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin probably has the longest screen time. While he revealed the unlimited access to the cameras as the reason behind it, the 43-year-old has taken the opportunity to take a dig at megastar Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift received criticism after last week’s NFC championship game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. Following her repeated appearances on the TV broadcast, fans expressed discontent at the cameras focusing on the singer more than the game itself. Citing a reference to her persistent presence on the screen, Denny Hamlin felt that his screen time in NASCAR: Full Speed was comparable and made a joke about the same in an Instagram story.

Denny Hamlin has life-size cutouts of the NFL’s power couple in his house

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship has been the talk of the town for a while now. Owing to their dynamic, Swift has also shown interest in the NFL and has attended many Chiefs games since last year. Last week was another instance of Swift cheering for Kelce from the stands as the tight end took to the field at the Highmark Stadium.

In Denny Hamlin‘s recent Instagram story, he is seen watching one of the episodes of NASCAR: Full Speed. Capturing one of his moments in the docu-series, Hamlin wrote, “I wish they’d stop showing Denny Hamlin – @killatrav and @taylorswift probably.”

Even more surprisingly, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had a seemingly life-size figurine of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in front of him. Denny Hamlin may be a fan of Swift’s music, or the instance is just another case of Denny being Denny. Hamlin revealed the reasons behind him being highlighted in the series on the latest episode of Actions Detrimental.

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Denny Hamlin is one of many NASCAR personalities to express his opinion on Taylor Swift’s appearances on the broadcast. Former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace too had spoken about the unwarranted backlash at Swift and explained its reasoning. Wallace also took his chance to announce his love for Taylor Swift amid the criticism.

Kenny Wallace’s defense of Taylor Swift

Kenny Wallace is not one to shy away from expressing his opinions aloud. Watching the Bills vs Chiefs game live on TV, he had also noticed the camera’s continuous attention to Swift’s actions. Speaking about the same on Twitter, Wallace claimed that after years of working with TV broadcasts, he has understood that famous personalities are often in the limelight, which is a directive from the production team.

“When you do TV, they have a production team. There’s a guy called the director,” stated Kenny Wallace.  “The director directs his people. They’ll say camera three, show Taylor Swift, and camera three goes to her.”

“You have to go to the director and say, why did you show Taylor Swift? Most likely, the director is going to say, ‘There’s eight people that like Taylor Swift, and there’s only two that does not like her.’ So the people that are doing the yapping are a very small majority but they’re very loud.”

Looking at Kenny’s explanation, one might wonder if NASCAR: Full Speed directors wanted the spotlight on Denny Hamlin more often. That might have been the case, considering his strong run in the initial playoff races. However, as a painful elimination followed, Netflix revised well to portray his dejection.

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