Joe Gibbs Racing’s veteran driver Denny Hamlin is currently regarded as the most disliked driver on the NASCAR grid. He has embraced the persona of a NASCAR villain after he got comfortable with boos and hate he received from the fans at the track as well as on social media regardless of how bad or good he was on the track on the given day.
Denny Hamlin made full use of his persona in 2023 season and was able to grow his brand in the process as well. One of the major reason’s he has this number of detractors has been the run-ins he has had over the years with fan favourites such as Jeff Gordan, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. Hamlin has recently revealed that the clash with Larson last year Pocono and it’s after math inspired him to take up the mantle.
It really took off after I did or did not get into Kyle Larson at Pocono. 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. Hamlin told Kevin Harvick.
The tree times Daytona 500 winner is playing a role that only a few could play and it’s greatly benefiting the sport. It’s not just the fan favourites that makes a sport entertaining as the fans also wants to individuals partaking in events who they desperately want to see losing. That’s what is making him the driver to look up to. At the same time the drover Hamlin took the mantle from is now a fan favourite.
Kyle Busch gone from the most hated to most loved racer in NASCAR in one year
Two times NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was considered the most hated man in NASCAR for many years. He was teammate with Denny Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing till 2022. Busch like Hamlin was no stranger to high profile run-ins and his list of fights was bigger than Hamlin’s and the duo had a similar cocky attitude as well.
Busch left JGR for legacy NASCAR team Richard Childress Racing in 2022 and it started his transition from villain to hero. One of the reason he was disliked was his association with Toyota and It was instantly lifted following the RCR move. Busch and his entourage social media strategy that projected him as family man also helped.
When Busch came second in most popular driver and voting’s in 2023, Hamlin was collecting slack from his haters. But the latter is past the stage of life where this attitude of fans is troubling him and he is now in a state where he is looking to profit more from the people that dislike him while also growing his fanbase. It’s fare to say so far he has been successful in this venture.
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