“If you love ya some Rowdy, let me hear you go booooo.” This is how Kyle Busch embraced the tag of being NASCAR’s most hated driver. Despite the flak from the fans and the double eagles that flipped with every passing lap, he kept on winning races and championships. With two championship wins and 63 Cup Series victory lane visits, he channeled the fan’s criticism as fuel to achieve his career goals. But, ever since he moved to Richard Childress Racing and the Chevy camp, the boos turned into cheers, despite his struggles on the racetrack.
Has Rowdy gone soft after exiting Joe Gibbs Racing? And would he spark back into life, winning races if he received the similar treatment he received back in the day? Denny Hamlin, his former teammate and Darlington race winner, believes so.
Denny Hamlin embraces being NASCAR’s villain, following in Rowdy’s footsteps
Now, we all know Hamlin is one of those few guys who is unfiltered and honest about his views, even if it rubs some people the wrong way. With Rowdy trying to be the nice guy at RCR, Hamlin took up his place as the bad guy in the sport. In his case, it wasn’t the frantic radio rant or winding up the fans on purpose, but rather his antics on the racetrack.
His antics against Hendrick Motorsports drivers like Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, in particular, put him in that spot. To make matters worse, he rubbed salt in the wounds of the fans by saying, “I beat your favorite driver ” after every win. Well, Hamlin’s dad stepped in, and he let go of this infamous tagline, but one thing that didn’t stop was him winning races.
He even got a new motto for the 2025 season—11 Against The World. He waved this flag after his win at Martinsville. And this was followed by another win at Darlington Raceway. Although the fans at Martinsville didn’t outright discredit Hamlin’s masterclass, the same couldn’t be said about his Darlington performance, which allowed the fans to get on his back again. “Plenty of double ones this past weekend at Darlington.” The veteran JGR driver said this on his podcast.
Interestingly, he felt that if Kyle Busch retained his villain aura, who knows, he would still be winning races. Of course, he couldn’t help but clap back at the naysayers, stating that he’s only getting warmed up after his Darlington triumph that brought up his 56th career win. “I bet Kyle Busch wishes he got all the boos that he used to get. He used to get a lot but he was winning a lot too. It’s great bring those double ones, I’ll keep harassing you as a driver.”
NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Bass Pro Shops Night Race Sep 16, 2023 Bristol, Tennessee, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin 11 wins the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol Bristol Motor Speedway Tennessee USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xRandyxSartinx 20230916_tdc_bs1_0316
Well, lady luck was smiling on Denny Hamlin and his team. With 4 laps to go in the Goodyear 400, Kyle Larson crashed and set up an overtime finish. But before that, the lead pack headed for fresh Goodyear tires, and the #11 team was on their A-game. Entering the pits in 3rd place, Hamlin cycled out as a leader, and he was pretty much uncontested during the two-lap shootout.
Well, after sending a clear message to the NASCAR fan base, Hamlin also talked about some serious business. This time around, he took direct shots at NASCAR’s trusted partner, FOX.
Hamlin calls out another major blunder from FOX
Well, things haven’t been smooth with how FOX has been covering NASCAR Cup Series races for the past few years. Cartoon graphics, untimely commercial breaks, and weird camera angles have plagued the viewer experience. Not to forget, FOX cameras at the Daytona 500 missed out on the Air Force Thunderbirds flyover before the race. And that is just one instance of their recurring mistakes.
We know that FOX has signed an exclusive deal to broadcast all the IndyCar races, and this could have been their direct response to NASCAR banking on streaming partners like Amazon Prime Video. But they still have 14 races in their kitty, and going by the fan outrage, they are slacking. Joining this discussion was Denny Hamlin, who couldn’t get his head around the sound output from the FOX broadcast.
“Is FOX‘s audio f—– up for anyone else? Like, I noticed [that] in my living room and in my bus, I have multiple speakers. I have a TV, and then I have speakers, a left and a right. But the audio during our races only comes out of our right speaker. It’s like it’s on analog.” He shared on his podcast.
There was a lot of chatter surrounding Hamlin’s future at JGR at the start of 2025. But with two wins and a spot in the playoffs, all that noise has settled down, and who knows, he might have more wins coming his way.
The post Denny Hamlin Threatens NASCAR Fans, Vows to Carry Kyle Busch’s Villain Arc After Loud Boos appeared first on EssentiallySports.