“On Purpose”: Denny Hamlin’s Controversial Broadcast Snub Sends NASCAR Fans Into Frenzy

Denny Hamlin’s strategy played out perfectly. Starting at the pole, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran led the final 25 laps at the World Wide Technology Raceway to secure his fifth win of the season. While the triumph advanced the 44-year-old into the second round of the playoffs, the win also sent a statement to NASCAR, coming at a time when the lawsuit drama is at an all-time high. Considering the circumstances, was it simply a coincidence that the USA Network started cutting the feed when the checkered flag was waved at the Enjoy Illinois 300?

Unsurprisingly, plenty of fans didn’t seem to think so. The Virginia-native isn’t the most popular figure with the NASCAR hierarchy at the moment, especially after the latest lawsuit drama with the leaked texts and emails. But surely, the France family won’t take such a petty action for a legitimate race win, right?

Denny Hamlin makes a statement amidst lawsuit drama

It was a result that the France family may have to grudgingly accept. Even though Joe Gibbs Racing is one of the 13 chartered teams on the grid, Denny Hamlin is what can be described as the ‘disrupter,’ having gone to court to sue NASCAR for ‘monopolistic practices’ last year. Since then, things have steadily taken a turn for the worse, with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports losing their charters, and their relationship with the sports’ hierarchy deteriorating to the point of no return. The veteran racer has been right in the middle of it all along, leading the lawsuit alongside Michael Jordan.

Denny Hamlin’s 59th career win couldn’t have played out better. He was called into the pits with 44 laps remaining, and the veteran managed to cycle back into the lead on a caution 15 laps later. It was his first triumph at Gateway, and Toyota’s 200th win in the Cup Series, while teammate Chase Briscoe, who won last week’s playoff race at Darlington, ended up second. After the race, the Virginia-native seemed oblivious to the broadcast feed getting cut right when he was crossing the checkered flag, and he went on to tell the USA Network, “Big for everyone at Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. My dad’s not feeling well; shout-out to him.”

With the new media rights agreement kicking off this year, the USA Network will be airing the opening seven races of the Cup Series playoffs, with NBC taking over for the Round of 8 fixture at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 19. However, fans couldn’t help but notice periodic blackouts in the broadcast when Hamlin was crossing the start-finish line at the end of the race, with many wondering if there was a problem with their cable box or just a one-off scenario. However, it turns out that the ‘issues’ were there for everybody watching the conclusion of the race.

Such problems didn’t exist when Chase Briscoe won the Cook Out Southern 500 last week, despite the USA Network broadcasting the race. And the timing of the ‘cuts’ sparked conspiracy theories, as the blackouts were perfectly timed so that fans couldn’t see Denny Hamlin secure the win at the World Wide Technology Raceway. Naturally, fans couldn’t help but weigh in on the scenario, and many of them took to social media to voice their opinions about the so-called ‘censorship’ surrounding Denny Hamlin’s triumph.

Fans weigh in on Hamlin’s broadcast snub

The situation was always going to spark conspiracy theories. Denny Hamlin is NASCAR’s ‘bad boy’ at the moment, and his playoff win comes at a time when the relationship between the racer and the sanctioning body is at an all-time low. Considering the circumstances, it’s not surprising that fans jumped to conclusions regarding the USA Network’s timely blackouts, with one fan saying, “Technically a NASCAR production. Someone didn’t want to see it 👀” Another X user weighed in, claiming the sports’ hierarchy can take drastic action when they want to, and wrote, “And I can’t blame them. Nascar will be as vindictive as they can be to Denny and 23XI.”

One stock car racing enthusiast refused to believe that the timing of USA Network’s broadcast ‘issues’ was just a coincidence, and confidently said, “Lol no conspiracy, it was on purpose and we all know it 😀” However, another fan dismissed the claims and went on to say that the blackouts were persistent throughout the weekend, writing, “To be fair I was seeing glitching yesterday as well watching GT Wold Challenge on YouTube and Qualifying for WEC on HBO Max and there some random cut outs on Xfinity I think too… Think it’s something in the air this weekend 😅”

However, not everyone was willing to believe that the sanctioning body had nothing to do with the situation. One X user couldn’t help but say, “NASCAR did NOT want him to win 🙏😭,” and they were grudgingly forced to accept the race’s outcome, as Denny Hamlin crossed the checkered flag 1.620 seconds ahead of Chase Briscoe. Do you think the sanctioning body purposely blacked out the veteran racer’s triumph at the Enjoy Illinois 300? Let us know in the comments!