Denny Hamlin has started 2024 with a bang. The No. 11 Toyota driver delivered the goods on Saturday after coming back from P6 to claim a win at the Coliseum. This was Hamlin’s fourth Clash win, and he followed it with a repetition of his iconic statement of intent. In a post-race interview, Hamlin said, “You know I beat your favorite driver again right?” However, former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty wasn’t impressed.

Surprisingly, the reaction from the Los Angeles crowd was different from how Bristol treated him in last year’s playoffs. The audience cheered for Hamlin after an intense win. However, Denny Hamlin’s statement going without scrutiny is a rare instance. Reviewing the 2024 Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, Petty shared his thoughts on Hamlin’s iconic statement.

Kyle Petty tells Dany Hamlin to get another tagline

Denny Hamlin might not have a championship in his repertoire, but 51 wins in the Cup Series is no joke. As Hamlin might say, he has beaten the fans’ favorite drivers 51 times. Having watched Hamlin evolve as a driver in NASCAR, Kyle Petty knows the JGR driver’s inclination to create controversy. But he thought Hamlin repeating his tagline after the Clash win wasn’t worth it.

Petty hinted that overusing the tagline might make it stale, Petty said in his NASCAR review of the 2024 Clash, “I beat your favorite driver. That’s the way he closed off the season last year. That’s the way he starts the season this year. But, you know what? Get another tagline, dude. It worked the first time. I’m not so sure about the second time.”

“We’re going to get tired of hearing it, and I know everybody’s favorite driver is going to get tired of you beating them.” 

Later, on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, Hamlin revealed that his ‘cocky’ gesture had upset his father slightly. This has led to him officially retiring the tagline.

Hamlin said, “I’m going to retire the, ‘I beat all your favorite drivers,’ because I got a text, and those of you saw the Netflix special, with my dad. He sent me a text and he said, ‘Son, you’ve got to stop that. I don’t like it. It’s just too cocky.’ I’m going to listen to dad on this one. So we’re going to retire it.”

Hamlin is known to get on the nerves of the crowd and his antics during races haven’t helped his image. This has led to him being labeled as NASCAR’s villain, something he has embraced. Last year, during a conversation on Rubbin is Racing’podcast, Hamlin addressed the past instances of booing in his career. When asked by Large if he has started to embrace “this villain thing,” he said, “I think there was a time to uh reel that back in but I just think that there’s no going back at this point.” But the Coliseum audience welcomed Hamlin’s recent win.

The 43-year-old rarely gets to witness the fandom applauding him for his prowess on the track. He featured in the latest Netflix docu-series and NASCAR that may have gained him some goodwill.

NASCAR: Full Speed has boosted Hamlin’s popularity

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One of the hot topics of discussion in the NASCAR community is the sport’s latest docu-series, ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’. The documentary took viewers into the lives of 9 Cup Series drivers, which hadn’t been explored before. Among the nine drivers to make the cast, Denny Hamlin had the longest screen time. Netflix’s decision to focus on Hamlin came in the wake of his performances in the early playoff rounds, making him a title contender.

On the other hand, his story of chasing the championship year after year gave Netflix a big theme to cover. Addressing a recent surge in his following, Denny said, “What I’ve seen is just a big jump of following over the last five days.”

Revealing where these followers have mainly emerged from, Denny Hamlin disclosed, “When you look at the area where they’re from, their gender, all that stuff, it’s a different crowd. I think that certainly, it’s getting out to people that probably have not seen NASCAR before from what I can see.”

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Aside from Hamlin, NASCAR: Full Speed has generally boosted the sport’s popularity. Fan favorites have seen their legends grow, while some factions have changed their views on several controversial drivers. Hamlin is one among them. While portraying his persona entirely is a huge ask, he felt that Netflix had done a commendable job.

“I think there’s a lot to tell, but certainly I thought it was a very good snapshot of NASCAR, and it kind of told a story of we race for this long, then we have a playoff, and here’s how the playoffs work. That helps with the new NASCAR fans,” added Denny Hamlin.

The Busch Light Clash victory gives Denny a huge momentum booster before the 2024 season begins. As another championship chase dawns upon the community with next week’s Daytona 500, the question remains- is this the year of Denny Hamlin?

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