Denny Hamlin Appreciation Thread

FLRacingFan said:
The patchworked and repaved sections seemed to hold up pretty well over a full slate of racing today.
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"Patchworked" and "repaved" doesn't inspire confidence on a new track. They didn't know then, not sure why I would trust now. NASCAR race cars are exceptional in terms of torque. Hoping a track holds up is sketchy.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I've really grown to like Denny Hamlin the past year or so.

Dude's unapologetically himself.
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Revman said:
Me too. 100%.
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Which one of ya is this?

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StandOnIt said:
When you are running down the man's track and there isn't a problem in the first place, I would be mad I know that.
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I wouldn’t like it either. I still think it is best not to engage someone like Hamlin publicly as these disputes are better handled behind closed doors.
 
Spotter22 said:
Their job is to show up at the race track and race. The less they know the better. I wouldnt ask any driver for input on my race track.
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I do think that there are times when a track owner, the teams and drivers can work collaboratively. But I also agree that you can’t give the drivers free reign. If so we probably wouldn’t race at Daytona, Atlanta or Talladega.
 
BobbyFord said:
What race did they boycott?
Neither would survive without the other.
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They didn't think the tire was safe so most loaded up and went home, Big Bill took Grand American cars ( like ARCA) and ran them instead . These guys Make too much money to walk away. Imagine how many sponsors that would bail
 
Spotter22 said:
They didn't think the tire was safe so most loaded up and went home, Big Bill took Grand American cars ( like ARCA) and ran them instead . These guys Make too much money to walk away. Imagine how many sponsors that would bail
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That is exactly what is wrong with the sport, IMO.
They both need each other.
 
BobbyFord said:
That is exactly what is wrong with the sport, IMO.
They both need each other.
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That's nonsense. If they could make more somewhere else they would be gone. Free market, money and skill talk. The drivers came crawling back the next week. The one mouth that was a troublemaker was banned for a number of years. They won't ban Hamlin today because he is all mouth and he doesn't have a following among the big dogs. He actually might be good for the sport for the certain fans he appeals to.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I've really grown to like Denny Hamlin the past year or so.

Dude's unapologetically himself.
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I am not a big Hamlin fan but the whole hating on him thing is funny to watch at times

I can't help but to grin and laugh at his arrogance and the way he trolls them back.
 
StandOnIt said:
That's nonsense. If they could make more somewhere else they would be gone. Free market, money and skill talk. The drivers came crawling back the next week. The one mouth that was a troublemaker was banned for a number of years. They won't ban Hamlin today because he is all mouth and he doesn't have a following among the big dogs. He actually might be good for the sport for the certain fans he appeals to.
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Hamlin the driver or owner?
 
Greg said:
I am not a big Hamlin fan but the whole hating on him thing is funny to watch at times

I can't help but to grin and laugh at his arrogance and the way he trolls them back.
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He is brilliant. His relevance has skyrocketed.
 
Literally nobody gives more to this sport than Denny. Owner, driver, podcast.....and nobody I can think of has reinvented his career more dramatically this late in his career than Denny.....and where are all of those who said that he would be torn as an owner and a driver for another team? He has never been better. Denny Hamlin is a great story regardless of the hate.
 
Magicmiler said:
It would be something if Denny won Sonoma. Him and Marcus on the stage together..
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It is interesting how we think of Denny as anything but a road course driver yet he has won Watkins Glen and should have won Sonoma.
 
2 Sweet said:
And he could have. I'm 100% convinced he blew that final turn on purpose to give Tony the chance
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I hear you on that, but do you really think he did that? I just can't get myself to believe it.
 
JJ_14 said:
Unless your name is Denny Hamlin. :biggrin:
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Denny is a horse of a different color. Nothing he says or does should be a surprise to anyone.

There's no scenario where he would ever do something like that again, but yeah, I think he intentionally blew turn 11 to at least give Tony the opportunity. I think Denny had a lot of respect for Tony, knew that race was probably Tony's last shot at a win, and Denny roughed him up a bit to take the lead earlier in the lap.

Locking up the brakes going into the corner, and then not even defending his position? He took that turn extremely wide, even after the wheel hop subsided, and left the door wide open.
 
I found one of Allen's comments from after the race.....

Allenbaba said:
I don't think NASCAR set this up for Tony, or had anything to do with anything. I don't think any "fix" occurred. I think Tony had a top 5 car, and his team came up with a great strategy, and he's as good a road course driver as there is (I actually started him on my fantasy team this week). There wasn't some grand conspiracy. Tony had a car capable of winning all day.

If you asked me for my opinion (which is the same opinion as most) Denny had mixed emotions for the last several laps about Tony winning this race. Denny is a driver's driver. It's why he's so active in the council. He and Tony are tight. Denny knows what a Tony win would do for the sport, for Tony, for other drivers etc. And so...at pretty much the very last possible moment...said "ah f*ck it" and tanked it. That's all. No massive conspiracy. No NASCAR orders. No other teams or drivers involved. Just one guy doing what one guy felt like doing, right or wrong.

Oh and by the way, there's two pretty significant side effects from Tony winning as far as Denny/JGR/Toyota is concerned. 1) Chase field will now be weakened, since Tony will (most likely) be a first round exit (and all their top dogs are already in). And 2) Kurt and Kevin will be weakened. SHR now has to prepare 3 cars for the Chase, with an emphasis on the boss & his farewell tour, as opposed to only two cars using all the best and brightest minds to focus on, arguably, the two most consistent cars in the field. Some in that camp might call a race winner/Chase participant like Tony "good for business."

You better believe the contending teams in the garage think about that kind of stuff.
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Jorge De Guzman said:
I’d love to find out Denny’s list
apnews.com

Denny Hamlin says 'worse drivers' than him have won a NASCAR championship. Who does he mean?

Denny Hamlin is off to one of the best starts of his two-decade career, with three wins for Joe Gibbs Racing.
apnews.com apnews.com
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I don’t think that’s a crazy thing to say, to be honest. He’s gonna wind up top 10 on the all-time wins list, including a good number of crown jewel events. You could probably put together a pretty healthy list of Cup champs he’s “better” than - whatever a person interprets that to be.
 
“Worst” may be an overstatement…they are still pretty good if they win. But it is a headline grabber and he’s a marketing machine. He’s certainly better than many. But I wonder how many have won a championship who would not have been considered a top 10 by most measures during that time/era. My history of the sport doesn’t go back that far. Weakest I can think of in the last 10 years was Blaney and I like that guy and he’s a solid top 10 driver.
 
Sad thing is Hamlin is likely a top 12 driver all time with even a single championship. Mickey Mouse or not.

54 wins and counting. Will probably catch Kevin Harvick at the point. 3 Daytona 500s, 3 Southern 500s, a Coke 600. Has a chance to win the Brickyard this year and complete the collection of Crown Jewels.

One championship and his career is viewed in an entirely different light.
 
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