“He gets booed a lot”: Martin Truex Jr. blames Denny Hamlin’s “controversial” nature for attracting fans’ criticism

NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin has earned a reputation among fans for his outspoken nature and controversial opinions. Recently, his teammate Martin Truex Jr. gave some insight into why Hamlin has become a polarizing figure in the sport.

Deny Hamlin pilots the #11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, competing full-time in the Cup Series. Hamlin, who also co-owns 23XI Racing with NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, is among the most successful active drivers, currently 13th on NASCAR's all-time wins (54) list. He trails Kyle Busch by just nine victories. However, despite his impressive record, Hamlin has yet to secure a Cup Series championship.

In a recent post by Dirty Mo Media on X, Cup Series drivers were asked which one among them would get booed the most during driver intros. Martin Truex Jr. picked his JGR teammate Hamlin saying:

"Probably Denny, he gets booed a lot. He's controversial"

Hamlin and Truex Jr.'s teammate Christopher Bell also followed suit and said:

"Probably Denny. Yeah probably Denny right now"

However, Joey Logano seems to believe that he would be the one to get booed the most during driver introductions. He said:

"I'm top three, unfortunately. I've said some things I shouldn't have said, maybe ruffled some feathers with like some of the fan favorites. I don't feel like I should be there, I feel like I'm a little better than that, but that's where I'm at."

Meanwhile, Stewart Haas Racing's Chase Briscoe and HMS driver Chase Elliott also agreed with the two JGR drivers.

"I would say Denny Hamlin. Yeah, he typically gets the most boos. He's just very polarizing" Briscoe said.

"Probably Denny. It's fun for people to boo him I guess. I don't really know why he does, but he does" Elliott expressed.

Finally, when Denny Hamlin was asked the same question, the #11 driver said:

"It's me. I'm a Hendrick fan favorite."

Starting from the back of the grid, Hamlin's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway ended with a P24 finish after a final-lap incident in the Quaker State 400.

---

Denny Hamlin sheds light on strategy for Atlanta playoff race amid disappointing finish

Denny Hamlin had an underwhelming start to the 2024 playoffs at Atlanta. He failed to navigate his way to the front of the field and eventually got caught in an on-track incident.

The Virginia native failed to secure a top 20 finish in both stages of the race, finishing stage 1 in P34 and stage 2 in P29. Following his getting caught up in a multi-car wreck in the final lap of the Quaker State 400, the #11 driver shared his thoughts on his strategy for Atlanta.

"I thought there would be a bigger wreck, you know, just trying to play the numbers, figured there'd be more incidences than there were, and there were still some playoff guys in some stuff. But overall, I didn't care about really what anyone else did, just tried to get 20 points, which is, you know, been the high team finish, and just tried to get through this round," Hamlin said.

Team Penske driver Joey Logano drove down victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway, advancing to the next round of the playoffs.