“As long as I keep touching a HMS driver”: Denny Hamlin rules out adopting a dog leading to increase in popularity 

On an episode of his podcast after the race at Gateway, Denny Hamlin revealed he found a stray dog, which his children wanted to adopt. However, Hamlin ruled out keeping the dog, claiming it was "short-term happiness" and "a long-term pain in the a**."

A week later, on his podcast after the race at Iowa, Hamlin claimed it was "safe to say" that he had lost the battle and his family was keeping the dog.

And after the recent race in New Hampshire, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver revealed how the dog was getting all the attention from the fans. On the latest episode of his podcast, Hamlin claimed the dog "hit the jackpot" and found the right family. He revealed he got "a lot of questions" about the dog before the race and it was one of the main topics from the fans.

Hamlin recalled how he didn't have his fiancee or his children at the racetrack, so he was left with no choice but to carry her around in the golf cart.

This led to Hamlin being told that carrying a dog around could boost his fan vote, and that he might gain more fans if he carried a dog around on the track. But Denny Hamlin joked he didn't think it would happen for one simple reason.

"Listen, as long as I keep touching one of the Hendrick drivers, I'm never going to be popular, so let's just get that straight," Hamlin said. [1:02:26]

In recent years, Hamlin has had some on-track incidents with Hendrick drivers.

The most notable incidents between Hamlin and HMS drivers are his 2017 feud with Chase Elliott at Martinsville, his 2021 feud with Alex Bowman at Martinsville, his run-in with Kyle Larson at Pocono in 2023, and his back-and-forth with William Byron at Texas in 2023

Denny Hamlin embraces his role as NASCAR's villain

After his win at Bristol earlier this year, Denny Hamlin opened up on him embracing the villain role in NASCAR. He claimed he doesn't mind the noise from the fans and that a lot of it comes with success and his several incidents with popular drivers over the years.

"If you are a contender each and every week, you are going to get more noise typically. I have had so many altercations with so many popular drivers, and that just kind of fuels it as well,” Hamlin said as per AP News.

He claimed he has checked "all of the boxes" of things that fans dislike as he pointed to a previous JGR driver (Kyle Busch) who changed teams and became more likable.

Denny Hamlin added that when a driver has all the things that he has in that box of "negativity checked", there's no choice but to "live that life."