Is Denny Hamlin the new Kyle Busch?

ToyYoda

ToyYoda

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The season is still young, but it seems like every week so far this season Denny Hamlin has dominated the headlines for one reason or another, usually for something negative. This is eerily similar to what was going on with Kyle Busch a couple years ago. Kyle by comparison has kept things relatively clean so far this year. Granted, Kyle's 2011 shenanigans were somewhat worse (shoving Harvick's empty car, the 128 mph joyride, turning Hornaday into the wall under caution), but I can see Denny heading down this road if he doesn't get things in check.

Given my username you'd think I'd be the last person to bring this up, but it is just my honest observation.
 
No. Kyle was winning.

Seriously though, no. I don't see any difference really with how things have always been with Denny. Nothing he has done so far has really been that big of a deal, IMO.
 
Both have made negative headlines but I don't see him going down that road. It appears to be genetic or a product of their upbringing.
 
Denny is a big time bean shooter whenever something goes wrong. He exaggerates everything in his mind and starts saying dumb stuff. To hear him talk about how he worked his way up to cup the hard way says it all.
 
I do see some similarities, but thats not necessarily bad. The headlines for the fine, according to the vast majority of fans seems to be accepted as NASCAR overreacting. Which I would have to agree with, since I think its a good thing that Denny gave honest feedback, and not manufactured feedback on the interview question. And as far as today goes, it just seems to be a NASCAR feud between two drivers. And at any given time there is usually at least two drivers who are on pretty sketchy ground with one another. When kyle was in his bad boy prime he seemed to have more of a "going in guns blazing" attitude and was a bit (a lot at times) reckless.
Both drivers stand up for themselves and speak their minds, and I think thats respectable.

My two cents.
 
TchainT said:
I do see some similarities, but thats not necessarily bad. The headlines for the fine, according to the vast majority of fans seems to be accepted as NASCAR overreacting. Which I would have to agree with, since I think its a good thing that Denny gave honest feedback, and not manufactured feedback on the interview question. And as far as today goes, it just seems to be a NASCAR feud between two drivers. And at any given time there is usually at least two drivers who are on pretty sketchy ground with one another. When kyle was in his bad boy prime he seemed to have more of a "going in guns blazing" attitude and was a bit (a lot at times) reckless.
Both drivers stand up for themselves and speak their minds, and I think thats respectable.

My two cents.
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I love it. Lets see where Denny's 'better than you' attitude gets him this time, and if Joey can stop whining and actually do something about it without being a drama Queen.

He nailed Denny on the restart, and that was dumb. From what I hear, he nailed Denny again after he was already falling back, and that was dumb. Wait until Denny is fighting for the lead in a race and then nail him.
 
Yeah apparently there was some other run-in they had that cameras didnt manage to catch. I dont remember where, but I saw one of the two drivers reference it. I dont have a problem with either driver. I think its good racing and they took it to heart given previous tensions. Nobody seems really in the wrong from my point of view.
 
No, Denny just thinks he is a badass.
 
Exactly Greg...Denny has always thought he is WAY better than what he actually is. This is why he bothers me so much....
 
He wouldn't make a pimple on shrubs butt..
 
Stewart Fan said:
Denny hasn't done anything wrong yet.
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Denny, is that you?;)

When Hamlin has a fast car, hethinks he own the track. That attitude has gotten him in trouble many times, especially with drivers he thinks haven't earned the right to race him hard. Does anyone think Denny would have run into JJ, Brad, Tony, Kyle or Jeff in that same situation? I've seen Logano give Denny way more slack than Denny gave Joey at Bristol. Denny saying it had nothing to do with him being pissed about Daytona, where Joey used poor judgement, is BS. Hamlin acted like a little bitch and tweeted his contempt and displeasure for Logano rather than speaking to him directly.
 
My guess is that Denny never really liked Joey and now that Joey went to Penske he can let his true feelings show.The fine for the comments was just dumbass Denny coming out.He's good for 1 or 2 of those every year.
 
I don't think Hamlin and "mental stability" go together...remember a couple years ago how Johnson managed to completely take Hamlin out of it with some of the mind games....I bet Hamlin sits in a dark corner and rocks at night...
 
trust me this Denny/Joey fued will grow tiresome real quick. Both are all talk. Joey is a dumbass for going to twitter last night to fight his battles. The kid can't confront Denny when he is out of his car, and he waits to until he is safe and goes to a public forum to talk sh!t. I really hope someone beats the f#ck out of Joey sometime so he can learn his place.
 
FenderBumper said:
Denny, is that you?;)

When Hamlin has a fast car, hethinks he own the track. That attitude has gotten him in trouble many times, especially with drivers he thinks haven't earned the right to race him hard. Does anyone think Denny would have run into JJ, Brad, Tony, Kyle or Jeff in that same situation? I've seen Logano give Denny way more slack than Denny gave Joey at Bristol. Denny saying it had nothing to do with him being pissed about Daytona, where Joey used poor judgement, is BS. Hamlin acted like a little bitch and tweeted his contempt and displeasure for Logano rather than speaking to him directly.
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And then Joey did the same exact thing yesterday. lol. They both have entitlement issues.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
trust me this Denny/Joey fued will grow tiresome real quick. Both are all talk. Joey is a dumbass for going to twitter last night to fight his battles. The kid can't confront Denny when he is out of his car, and he waits to until he is safe and goes to a public forum to talk sh!t. I really hope someone beats the f#ck out of Joey sometime so he can learn his place.
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To be fair, that's exactly what Hamlin did after Daytona, and there was never an attempt to talk to Joey directly. Here's a take on the whole thing that I agree with....if you're interested.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/...gano-denny-hamlin-feud-kasey-kahne-kurt-busch

It’s not surprising that Joey Logano continues to be picked on by veteran drivers. The only thing that is a little surprising is the instigator – Logano’s former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.

Ever since Logano entered the Sprint Cup Series before he turned 19, he has had been tormented by several Cup drivers trying to intimidate him. While they initially were successful, he has learned over the past few years to stand up for himself.
But for some reason, drivers aren’t giving him a break, and Hamlin is the latest to antagonize Logano and see if he has the toughness to compete as a Cup driver.

Hamlin clearly wrecked Logano at Bristol — Hamlin says it was supposed to be a bump-and-run but he has more talent than that — and Logano went to Hamlin’s car after the race to confront him.

But with crews surrounding them, they never talked and then used Twitter to continue their spat.
This is not over. Logano will get Hamlin back. Logano has to stand up for himself — he has no choice or his new Penske Racing team won’t back him. The rest of the Cup field is watching, and if he doesn’t stand up for himself now, he’ll be the victim of intimidation from more than just Hamlin.

Logano, who was replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing last year by Matt Kenseth but was able to land the coveted Penske ride, is an easy target because he is still young (22) trying to prove himself in a Cup car.

Hamlin isn’t known to let up in a rivalry easily, but as he did with Brad Keselowski, he can change his feelings about other drivers.
This one will take some time to play out. Expect Logano to take out Hamlin sometime before they call a truce.
 
The other drivers aren't giving him a break because he's a a**hole, IMO
 
Jeffrey00 said:
And then Joey did the same exact thing yesterday. lol. They both have entitlement issues.
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Martinsville, 2010. Hamlin is on the radio during the yellow demanding that Logano let him low on the restart. Go to 3:00 and watch, then tell me Logano didn't give Hamlin a HUGE break at the end of that race, and explain why Denny couldn't give a little with 120 laps to go.
 
FenderBumper said:
To be fair, that's exactly what Hamlin did after Daytona, and there was never an attempt to talk to Joey directly. Here's a take on the whole thing that I agree with....if you're interested.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/...gano-denny-hamlin-feud-kasey-kahne-kurt-busch

It’s not surprising that Joey Logano continues to be picked on by veteran drivers. The only thing that is a little surprising is the instigator – Logano’s former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.

Ever since Logano entered the Sprint Cup Series before he turned 19, he has had been tormented by several Cup drivers trying to intimidate him. While they initially were successful, he has learned over the past few years to stand up for himself.
But for some reason, drivers aren’t giving him a break, and Hamlin is the latest to antagonize Logano and see if he has the toughness to compete as a Cup driver.

Hamlin clearly wrecked Logano at Bristol — Hamlin says it was supposed to be a bump-and-run but he has more talent than that — and Logano went to Hamlin’s car after the race to confront him.

But with crews surrounding them, they never talked and then used Twitter to continue their spat.
This is not over. Logano will get Hamlin back. Logano has to stand up for himself — he has no choice or his new Penske Racing team won’t back him. The rest of the Cup field is watching, and if he doesn’t stand up for himself now, he’ll be the victim of intimidation from more than just Hamlin.

Logano, who was replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing last year by Matt Kenseth but was able to land the coveted Penske ride, is an easy target because he is still young (22) trying to prove himself in a Cup car.

Hamlin isn’t known to let up in a rivalry easily, but as he did with Brad Keselowski, he can change his feelings about other drivers.
This one will take some time to play out. Expect Logano to take out Hamlin sometime before they call a truce.
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I think the issue is that JoLo came into Cup expecting the respect. He found out real quick that he needs to earn it. I think some still feel like he expects it, because he is doing a terrible job earning it.

and Logano went to Hamlin’s car after the race to confront him.

But with crews surrounding them, they never talked and then used Twitter to continue their spat.
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I dont agree with this. If JoLo wanted to talk to Denny he could have. He picked the safest time to look tough, while Denny was still strapped in and crew surrounding them. Unfortunately this is common practice by many drivers. If JoLo wants the respect he will have to go beyond common practice. If he would have waited until Denny was out of car and revealed what a little bitch Denny really is then I think he would have gained a little more respect.
 
FenderBumper said:
Martinsville, 2010. Hamlin is on the radio during the yellow demanding that Logano let him low on the restart. Go to 3:00 and watch, then tell me Logano didn't give Hamlin a HUGE break at the end of that race, and explain why Denny couldn't give a little with 120 laps to go.
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I think you got me all wrong. I know Denny is a little bitch. My point is, so is JoLo and yesterday just proved it.

EDIT:

your link didnt work. however if you are stating that JoLo gave into Denny's request then that could be another issue of why he is pushed around. Other drivers know they can get away with it. If he continues to cry about it with no actions then they will continue to push him around.
 
Similarities
-Both are incredible talents good enough to be champions and still young enough to mature to that level. They both would benefit from learning to focus on what is the most important issues (winning and titles) and picking their battles more wisely. Both of them have been guilty of sabotaging their own selves, or have failed to maximize their abilities (I would put Harvick in the same category).
Yesterday Hamlin repeated that error. Whether one believes Logano or Hamlin was wrong, Hamlin (the subject of the thread) created problems for himself, when you hit a guy in the middle of then turns or the Apex you are asking problems.
Be it a Kyle no talk pout, or a Denny no post tweet a thon, they are invested in self destruction.

They already have damaged their monday team meetings with their personsal issues.You can be a hard nosed driver without auduitioning for Springer, and the real badasses can make the distinction.

I do not want to jump on the Kez bandwagon but they could learn from his methodical, no nonsense approach. He has less cup experience, but he has schooled himsef toward a greater maturity.
 


Start at 3 minutes in and you'll see Denny run into Joey's front end and take the bottom away....and a sure win for Logano with it. Now Joey knows he should have turned Denny.
 
ted@economy said:
When was it that everyone loved Denny for standing up to Nascar over the $25,000.00 fine ?
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I still agree with what Hamlin said post
Vegas.But that doesn't give him a blank check for yesterday, nor does it excuse him from being a drama queen weighted down by light weight issues. Sunday was just another non valued altercation. I think Grubb even challenged him to think first next time (Grubb: per Dillner on speed center last night)
 
ted@economy said:
Love him or hate him , add him to the list of colorful characters in Nascar . Right ?;)
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Nope, this week its beat stomp, cut of his whatevers but last week it was, kissee kissee, smoochie smoochie, lotsa hugs. After all this is racing forums. :D
 
ted@economy said:
Love him or hate him , add him to the list of colorful characters in Nascar . Right ?;)
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I will give him that, but I do think he wuld been wiser to blow off Laganos slide job. His claim to only wanting to bump him was also disingenuous. Hitting a man between the corners at Bristol equals a wreck. After ****talking Logano at Daytona, and the Bristol spin, he had backed Lagano in a corner

Almost like making a requestion for someone to interfere with the rest of the race.
You dont win races or titles that way. This wasnt even a bump and run to the checkers. It was a petty mid race skirmish.
 
Greg said:
I still agree with what Hamlin said post
Vegas.But that doesn't give him a blank check for yesterday, nor does it excuse him from being a drama queen weighted down by light weight issues. Sunday was just another non valued altercation. I think Grubb even challenged him to think first next time (Grubb: per Dillner on speed center last night)
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See, even the Doggies figured this one out.
 
FenderBumper said:
Denny is a big time bean shooter whenever something goes wrong. He exaggerates everything in his mind and starts saying dumb stuff. To hear him talk about how he worked his way up to cup the hard way says it all.
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Well, he did. And Denny Hamlin's done A LOT for the sport. If it wasn't for his charity race at Richmond (and Southside before that), most of our guys out here wouldn't get a chance to shine in the spotlight.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Well, he did. And Denny Hamlin's done A LOT for the sport. If it wasn't for his charity race at Richmond (and Southside before that), most of our guys out here wouldn't get a chance to shine in the spotlight.
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Good point and he deserves credit for the charity event.
 
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