54-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Denny Hamlin blames adopted pet for his recent poor run of form in sarcastic manner

Denny Hamlin sarcastically blamed his dog “LuLu” for his recent performance in the latter half of the NASCAR Cup Series season. On his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin and co-host Jared Allen talked about his difficulties staying at the front of the field since adopting his dog in St. Louis.

Hamlin has secured 54 Cup Series wins under his belt since his rookie year in 2006, putting him in the 50-win Cup Club without a championship along with NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson. So far this season, he has three wins, nine top-5s, and 12 top-10s.

Denny Hamlin asked Allen to give him the finishing positions since the St. Louis race weekend last June when he picked up LuLu by the river. While he finished 2nd at World Wide Techonology Raceway, the driver had subpar results in the following races.

"If y'all don't mind, give me my average finish since St. Louis when we picked this damned dog up by the river," Hamlin said. "We'll then make an executive decision as parents whether we're going to keep this dog or not."

Allen responded:

“Sonoma 38th, Iowa 24th, New Hampshire 24th, Nashville 12th, Chicago 30th…”

The three-time Daytona 500 winner chimed in and commented:

“Nashville 12th. What a joke that was.”

Jared Allen continued, citing the driver’s finishing positions.

“Pocono second, Indy 32nd, Richmond second, Michigan ninth, Daytona 38th, Darlington seventh, and then Atlanta 24th.”

The first NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race in Atlanta saw Denny Hamlin finish 24th after a race strategy where he stayed at the back in anticipation of a wreck. His target was to score at least 20 points before heading to the next two races of the Round of 16.

Denny Hamlin walked out of Atlanta with just 13 points, and dropped to 11th and +2 to the playoff cut line.

Denny Hamlin remains confident despite his recent on-track struggles

On the same podcast episode, Jared Allen asked the Denny Hamlin whether he feels comfortable heading into the next two playoff races. The No. 11 Toyota driver said that while he wasn't comfortable, he felt confident to go out on track and perform.

“Am I comfortable? No. Because certainly I know that some others, things can happen certainly,” Hamlin told Allen.

The No. 11 Toyota driver shared his thoughts about the next two races at Watkins Glen and Bristol, saying:

“But I know that the next two tracks, tires are going to be a big thing. At Watkins Glen, we've got a new tire going there that's got seconds of fall off apparently, and if that's the case then you could be at the good end or bad end of that. Then you've got Bristol, you don't know that we're going to have a race like the spring or a race like the fall.”

"Either way, we won those two races. So again, if I can just hold myself above water going to Bristol, I feel very confident we're going to go out there and perform well," Hamlin said.

The road course playoff showdown in Upstate New York is happening on September 15.