"I know Denny Hamlin is pissed about not winning the race": John Hunter Nemechek hits back strongly at $65M NASCAR star's Daytona 500 comment

Denny Hamlin was seemingly upset with drivers like John Hunter Nemechek scoring a top 5 finish or even winning the Great American Race. Nemechek scored a career-high top-5 finish at the Daytona 500, but it still was not enough to impress the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

In his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin said Byron's "star power" legitimized the Daytona 500 result and that it would not have been the same had someone like John Hunter Nemechek won it. The $65M NASCAR star (according to Celebrity Net Worth) believes it would not have been a good reflection of the illustrious race and that the "people would view the race differently".

NASCAR: DAYTONA 500 - Source: Imagn

NASCAR reporter Claire B Lang talked to the LMC driver and asked for his views on Denny Hamlin's comments. He did not hold back in his response by taking multiple jibes at the 3-time Daytona 500 winner. Nemechek admitted to having never listened to Denny's podcast, before giving his honest opinion about the matter.

Hunter explained how he has always looked up to Denny and has a lot of respect for him. He said:

"I guess I get it from the perspective that I haven't necessarily made a name for myself in the Cup series yet. But that's what I'm here to do. I'm out on the racetrack, um racing as hard as I can."

Joe Nemechek's son further added:

"I know that he's pissed about not winning the race, but like I said, I'm here to make a name for myself as well. Whether that's winning the Daytona 500 or winning another race throughout the year. Yes, anyone can win at Daytona 500, or any superspeedway race."

John Hunter Nemechek also stated his decent career record at Daytona before acknowledging the fact that William Byron does have that established reputation, but also reminding others that he has not really had a shot at fighting for the championship yet.

He concluded:

"Not really sure what he was thinking or where his head is at with that. Part of me wants to say 'screw you, Denny'. But at the same time, I also have to earn respect from those guys."

It was not just JHN who hit back at Denny Hamlin on his Daytona 500 comments. Even NASCAR's communication director had some strong words for the #11 driver.

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“William Byron was not lucky,” says Mike Forde in response to Denny Hamlin's Daytona 500 outburst

Denny Hamlin's comment about superspeedway races like the Daytona 500 being won on luck did not sit well with NASCAR's communications director Mike Forde. Forde strongly opposed Hamlin's view about Byron or any other driver winning the race based on luck.

Hamlin said that luck overshadows the prestige of winning an illustrious race like the Daytona 500 and questions the integrity of the driver's win as well. He also accused NASCAR media of covering up the word 'luck' with other words like misfortune.

Replying to Hamlin's comments, the NASCAR director of communications said on the Hauler Talk podcast:

“William Byron was not lucky. He was prepared, he was talented and he had a really good car and he had the opportunity. He had the opportunity because he was running up front the entire race.”

Forde also explained that while there was some amount of luck in Byron's win, it was not necessarily a major factor. Byron became a back-to-back Daytona 500 winner after this year's victory whereas Denny Hamlin finished the race in 24th position.

He was involved in a final lap wreck that ruined his chances of winning his 4th Daytona 500. Hamlin, along with others will now gear up for the second Cup race of the season at Atlanta this weekend.