3 times Denny Hamlin faced the wrath of NASCAR fans on track, ft. Pocono 2023

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin is known for his notable wins at the Daytona 500 and crown jewel races. He debuted in the Cup Series in 2005 under JGR and has stayed with them since then. However, his fearsome attitude and aggressive driving have often led him to face the fan's wrath on the tracks.

The Florida native has had several instances when he got involved in a crash with other drivers like Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson and these situations led Hamlin to face the fan's outrage at the stadium. On that note let's take a closer look at these incidents.

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#1. Denny Hamlin's last-minute aggressive move at Kyle Larson

The JGR driver won the HighPoint.com 400 race at the Pocono Raceway on July 23, 2023, controversially leaving the fans upset. The #11 Toyota Camry driver has secured seven wins at the Pocono Raceway and while scoring his final win he sent his off-track friend Kyle Larson into the fence. During lap 154 of the 160-lap race on turn one Hamlin made a move at Larson running him out of room.

The oldest driver on the grid left the Hendrick Motorsports driver with two choices either to roll out of the throttle and avoid the fence or stay in throttle. Larson chose to stay throttled and got slammed into the fence by the #11 Toyota Camry driver. Kyle Larson ended the race in 20th place and Hamlin secured his seventh win at the Pocono Raceway.

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#2. Denny Hamlin got booed after sabotaging Elliott's first Cup Series win

The driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ Chevrolet Chase Elliott was in the first position during the few last laps of the 2017 playoff race at Martinsville Speedway and was on the brink of his first Cup Series victory ever. Unfortunately, Denny Hamlin took away Elliott’s chance of winning the race by hitting the back of the #24 Chevy thus eliminating Elliott from the race.

Hamlin and Elliott left their cars on the front stretch and faced each other in the grandstand to have a word. Elliott was furious about the JGR driver knocking out of the lead and the stadium packed with fans booed the #11 Toyota Camry driver for his move. The incident led to Elliott finishing in 27th place and Hamlin finished seventh on the grid.

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#3. Denny Hamlin faced fan's wrath at Bristol Motor Speedway

Joe Gibbs Racing driver took home his fourth victory at Food City at the 500 Bristol Motor Speedway race on March 17, 2024. He passed his teammate Martin Truex Jr. during the last few laps of the race and thus took his 52nd career victory.

While everyone was struggling with the tires and only five cars finished the race on the lead lap, Hamlin sailed smoothly and secured yet another victory. However, fans were not impressed by the 44-year-old driver's win and booed him as he stood on his #11 Toyota to celebrate.