“A disgrace to one of the sport's greatest ever” - Denny Hamlin labels NASCAR Hall of Fame 2024 voting a ‘joke’

Denny Hamlin is furious over seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson not being a unanimous selection for the Hall of Fame.

On Wednesday, NASCAR announced Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus as part of the Class of 2024 inductees along with pioneer driver Donnie Allison. While the trio were the favorites to enter the HoF, many were surprised that arguably the sport's greatest driver didn't get a unanimous vote to join the Hall of Fame.

The former Hendrick Motorsports driver received 93% of the votes from a panel consisting of 57 members. The panel includes NASCAR executives, drivers, crew chiefs, reporters, and industry contributors.

Denny Hamlin called out the panelists for participating in a "disgrace" to one of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen in Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin shared his opinion on social media and asked the Hall of Fame to reveal the votes and oust the panelists who didn't cast their vote for Johnson.

"Not unanimous. What a joke, a disgrace to one of the sport's greatest ever. Make it public who said no and remove them from the voting panel (sic)," Hamlin wrote on Twitter.

The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver asked NASCAR for a more transparent voting system. He went on to add that the panel members who didn't vote for Johnson had made a joke of the honor they were entrusted with.

Hamlin further explained the personal reasons some of the panelists didn't vote for Jimmie Johnson. His list of reasons read (via Twitter):

1. You don’t like them.
2. You weren’t voted in unanimously and are repaying the favor.
3. You feel as though they will have other years to get in and wanna vote for someone in their final year of eligibility.
4. You voted for a “buddy” instead.
5. Haven’t watched a race in the last 20 years.

When Johnson's name was included in the list of nominees, many believed him receiving an unanimous vote was a foregone conclusion. However, despite winning all the crown jewel events and earning his championships in different formats, he was denied the honor.

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Denny Hamlin still confident about Chase Elliott's playoff prospects

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver reiterated his belief that Chase Elliott will make it to the playoffs despite being 40 points behind the cut-off mark with four races left. Denny Hamlin's confidence in Elliott stemmed from the fact that the #9 HMS driver will be heading to some of his favorite tracks this month.

Elliott holds a stellar record at Watkins Glen and raced well at the Indy road course. Hamlin expects him to secure some big results in the upcoming races to replace Michael McDowell, who currently occupies the final spot in the playoffs.

“Chase Elliott’s good on f****** road courses. What are you talking about?” Hamlin said on his podcast 'Actions Detrimental.'

McDowell responded to Denny Hamlin's claim by arguing that he'd also scored good results in the next-gen car on road courses, willing to bring up the points tally. The JGR driver accepted the challenge and asked McDowell to prove him wrong, but there have been no further conversations between the two since then.