"It nearly took an act of God": When Denny Hamlin recalled getting a Dale Earnhardt autograph as a child

In a 2015 interview, Denny Hamlin opened up on his Dale Earnhardt Sr. autograph story. Jeff Gluck asked the Joe Gibbs Racing driver which autograph he got as a kid was a big deal for him.

Hamlin, who had been full-time racing in the Cup Series since 2006, revealed that it was the autograph of the 7x champion he considered 'the biggest' he got as a kid. He explained:

"Mainly because it was so hard to get it. His lines were way longer and it nearly took an act of God to get his autograph. Every time the races would come to Richmond, my mom would have a sheet of where each driver was doing appearances. And we'd go on a Thursday night road trip to each stop to get each driver's autograph." [via USA Today]

Hamlin claimed that in order to get Dale Sr.'s autograph, one had to wait for multiple hours in a line. He highlighted the lengths to which Earnhardt's autograph was in demand by pointing to Michael Waltrip.

The #11 driver said that without meaning to offend Waltrip, he had to wait in a line of only four or five people to get his autograph. While in Earnhardt's case, he had to wait in a queue for three hours.

Denny Hamlin weighs in on Dale Earnhardt's image and reputation in NASCAR

[L-R] Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., and Dale Earnhardt Jr. before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cheez-It 355 - Source: Getty

During an interview earlier this year with Kenny Wallace, Denny Hamlin was asked why Dale Earnhardt Sr. got away with 'knocking the s**t' out of his rivals on track and still be celebrated as a hero.

Earnhardt, who also went by the nicknames of The Intimidator and the Man in Black, developed a reputation for being a fierce competitor on the track. Over the course of his long and illustrious career, the former RCR driver had several incidents with his fellow drivers with some of the most notable ones being spinning Terry Labonte at Bristol or Rusty Wallace in 1995 at Bristol.

Addressing how Dale Sr. got away with multiple such episodes while also having a strong fan following, Denny Hamlin claimed it was because no driver was 'big enough or strong enough' to challenge him outside a racecar. He explained:

"I think they were intimidated by him outside the racecar. That's my opinion, is that he was intimidating on the racetrack and off the racetrack. If my scrawny a** were to go upto Dale Earnhardt and say, 'Hey, why'd you spin me?' He'd say, 'You were in my way.' What else am I going to say? What are we going to do about that? I'll wreck him back and the fans will hate me and they're gonna love him for it."

Having said that, Denny Hamlin claimed all of that was part of Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s appeal. He added that Earnhardt 'earned that spot' in NASCAR to get those fans.