“It’s nothing but cocky”: Denny Hamlin told to ‘knock off’ his famous ‘I beat your favorite driver’ slogan by his father

Fans might have seen the last of Denny Hamlin's trademark "I beat your favorite driver" slogan at the Busch Light Clash 2024.

As NASCAR returned to action last weekend, fans were treated to some high-intensity racing action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Starting from pole, Joe Gibbs Racing stalwart Denny Hamlin raced to victory in a race that was interrupted with multiple restarts.

Following the win, an elated Hamlin spoke to the media as he exited his No. 11 Toyota. Donning the antagonistic persona he found last season, the Tampa, Florida native uttered the infamous line that has become his catchphrase:

"I beat your favorite driver, again."

The Coliseum responded with a chorus of boos. Yet, Hamlin thrives on embracing controversy and heat, relishing his role as a polarizing figure in the sport.

However, the Busch Light Clash might have been the final chapter for Hamlin's catchphrase. In a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, the 43-year-old revealed a lighthearted exchange with his father, Dennis, who advised him against using the slogan, deeming it 'too cocky'.

Denny Hamlin said:

"So I gave them the, ‘I beat your favorite driver,’ again. Which, breaking news, I always say that at least once in every podcast, I’m going to have to retire it. I’m going to retire the, ‘I beat all your favorite drivers,’ because I got a text, and those of you (that) saw the Netflix special, with my dad.

"He sent me a text and he said, ‘Son, you’ve got to stop that. I don’t like it. It’s nothing but cocky.’ I’m going to listen to dad on this one. So we’re going to retire it."

Hamlin continued:

"That’s the last time I think — jokes are always funnier the first time you say it, not the second or third or whatever anyway. So we’ll come up with something new next time around. But ‘I beat your favorite driver, all of them,’ is officially going to go down in the history books. It’s done.”

Denny Hamlin on momentum boost as he wins Busch Light Clash

Hamlin reflected on the closing stages of the race where a lot went down between him, Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano, with the latter two even being involved in a verbal argument post-race.

Reflecting on the chaos that ensued in the closing stages of the race, Denny Hamlin said (via Motorsport.com):

"A lot of it was what happened in front of me with Ty and Joey. You just never know what was going to happen there. It’s so chaotic with the restarts with everyone just bumping and banging but it feels good to win here in L.A."

Hamlin expressed his determination to start afresh with each new year as he added another trophy to his cabinet. The JGR driver said:

"It doesn’t do much more than that. I clean off all the trophies every January 1 and now we get to add one pretty quick."