Denny Hamlin Calls Out 'Dumb' Hendrick Motorsports Fans After Accusations of Sabotaging William Byron’s Race at Charlotte

The 2025 running of the famed Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend saw William Byron and Ross Chastain duel it out on track before the Trackhouse Racing driver ultimately clinched the victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, marking his first win of the season. While Denny Hamlin looked like a contender to win at one point, issues on pit road with fueling meant he was ultimately sidelined from the showdown.

However, in peak Denny Hamlin fashion, some fans seemed to think the Joe Gibbs Racing driver caused Byron to lose position to Chastain. Calling out specific ‘Hendrick Motorsports fans’ who seemed to have built the notion online, the No. 11 driver did not mince his words about their opinion.

Hamlin called them out on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, certainly not holding back. “What the f— are people watching? I was behind him (Byron) when he stepped on his d—.”

Issues with fueling on the final planned pit stop for his team meant Hamlin ran out of fuel while he was dueling for position with Byron. Hence, an unscheduled stop for Hamlin put him several laps down from the competition. This essentially closed out any hopes of winning the race for the No. 11 crew.

Once the Toyota Camry XSE driver did make it out, he was seen ahead of the No. 24 of Byron. This is when the No. 1 driven by Chastain was chasing the HMS driver for the lead. Since Hamlin was not in contention and was being lapped, he allowed both the leader and the second-place car to overtake him into turn one on the track by lifting more than necessary to make the corner.

“What are these people watching?” asked Hamlin

Subsequent events saw Byron lose out due to another lapped car, driven by Joey Logano, which caused him to lose momentum later as the laps counted down. This is when Hamlin self-admittedly repassed both Byron and Chastain, not for position, but to keep his hopes of a decent finish alive if a caution came out. Byron also spoke about his confusion about how Logano drove in a post-race interview.

“What are these people watching?” questioned a dumbfounded Hamlin. “How can I hold him up when I’m behind him? How can people be that dumb? If you said that, you’re an idiot. I mean, that is asinine,” he summed up.

Hamlin and his persona as the NASCAR villain could be one factor at play here, with fans supporting Byron looking for reasons to put his loss on Hamlin instead of accepting that Ross Chastain did a better job than William Byron in the specific scenario, just as the laps closed out on the 600-mile-long race.

And as always, Hamlin seems to be revelling in the fact that he is faced with flak, warranted or not.