Denny Hamlin enjoys the label of a villain in NASCAR and has grown comfortable with his haters over the years. The 52-time Cup Series race winner has reined in the boos and cucumbers directed at him at races and displayed them like badges of honor. This supreme confidence helps Hamlin be the charismatic leader of 23XI Racing. It also gives him the courage to playfully defy his team owner, Joe Gibbs.

Denny Hamlin smirks at getting on the nerves of his team owner

The dynamic between an owner and a racer is always special. Denny Hamlin’s and Joe Gibbs’ relationship goes way back to 2005. Since then, the driver has worked hard to bring JGR to the forefront of Cup teams. Hamlin was even tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson as the winningest driver without a title.

Those badges of merit provide Hamlin the license to irk his team owner. Recently, Denny Hamlin sat down with Kevin Harvick in a pre-race interview. Harvick brought up the incident when Joe Gibbs busted Hamlin for his clothing: “You think after all these years a man can afford a pair of pants.”

While Hamlin could be seen smiling in response to Gibbs’ jibe, he displayed a smirk to Harvick. “I knew when I walked out of the house, I looked at him and I’m like, ‘this is not gonna fly with Joe, for sure’. I did remind him though, ‘Joe those pair of pants cost less than a set of tires’.”

The three-time Daytona 500 winner announced a multi-year contract extension with JGR last year. So that means Gibbs has to put up with Hamlin’s antics for a long time now. But the 83-year-old former football coach believes in his driver’s potential. He said Hamlin “really helps us because it solidifies where we’re going for the next several years to come.”

Harvick ended the interview with a “last fun question.” He asked, “Michael Jordan, Joe Gibbs- call at the same time, which one do you answer first?” While others may be left biting their nails or scratching their heads to answer, Hamlin spoke without hesitation: “Michael Jordan.” While Hamlin works under Joe Gibbs, 23XI is his passion, which he built from scratch with NBA legend Jordan.

Denny Hamlin also spilled the beans on when exactly he started to wear the black hat in NASCAR.

Hamlin says knock-off with Hendrick driver triggered his villain story

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There is always an origin story for a villain. Denny Hamlin has pretty much cemented his status as the villain of the sport, but when did it all start? He recently shared the origin story, although the process must have begun way before, as he slowly got used to getting bashed as a driver.

“It really took off after I did or did not get into Kyle Larson at Pocono,” Hamlin explained to Harvick. “I just feel like I’ve reached the point of my career where I’m comfortable in my own skin, and there’s something about it that I feed off of when I get into these incidences that just gets the best out of me on the race track.”

Even as Denny Hamlin played with team owner Joe Gibbs, the Bristol winner got his hopes dashed at COTA. He secured 14th place but is hoping to brush it off ahead of the next race.

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