“The Mark Martin of his generation”: Fans react as Denny Hamlin faces major setback in his Championship 4 hopes 

Denny Hamlin faced some serious trouble during practice at Martinsville on Saturday as the throttle on his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry got stuck, pushing him into the wall in Turn 3.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver did not qualify for Sunday’s race and, hence, will start from the back of the field. As per Road and Track, the team is trying their best to not resort to Hamlin’s backup car. Therefore, his primary ride was promptly towed back to the garage for repairs.

NASCAR recently posted a video (on X, formerly Twitter) of Hamlin exiting his car, fuming with rage. Sitting 18 points below the cutline, the veteran racer is in a must-win situation.

Many fans reacted to the video, with one calling Hamlin the modern-day Mark Martin, who, during his time, won multiple races but missed out on bagging the ultimate honor: the championship title.

“The Mark Martin of this generation of drivers... great driver skills, lots of wins, but the title remains elusive!” the fan said.

Another fan lauded the No. 11 JGR crew for being able to repair the car in just a matter of hours.

“To get this car repaired in 3 hours is amazing!” they wrote.

Here are a few other reactions to the post by NASCAR:

“He’ll be back tomorrow in victory lane and ready for Phoenix next week. 2024 Champion!!” a fan commented.

“If anyone can do it, he can!!! Good luck tomorrow!” said another.

“If you would have to pick a driver to do it, Hamlin is certainly one of them. Especially at Martinsville,” a fan added.

In 37 starts at the half-mile short track, Denny Hamlin amassed five wins, 14 top-5s, and six top-10s. Needless to say, he has been quite strong at Martinsville. However, qualifying for the championship race on points is perhaps not an option for Hamlin, so the 43-year-old is vying for another win.

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“Getting in on points isn’t happening”- Denny Hamlin sends clear note to himself hoping for a comeback

Denny Hamlin realizes the situation he is currently in. He is the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver and the only Toyota pilot who is not inside the top four in the playoff picture. A win to get in is his current mindset.

“It’s hard enough to win these races straight up, even if you had the pole,” Hamlin noted (via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut). “They’re just hard to win. Our battle is very much uphill but if the car has any kind of speed still, then I like our chances but getting in on points isn’t happening…We have to figure out how to win the race.”

The practice session at Martinsville was 45 minutes long, unlike its usual 20-minute span. The reason for that is Goodyear is expected to introduce a new left-side tire for the 500-lap event on Sunday. Hamlin seemed somewhat optimistic about this.

“Well, that’s the good news, that I felt the tire was definitely an improvement from what we’ve had in the past,” Hamlin said. “It certainly had what I thought was probably twice the fall off that we had with the previous tire.”

“So certainly if the race goes long enough and green enough could make up some spots there if your car’s handling well” he added.

For now, one can only speculate about the outcome of the decisive race. Will Denny Hamlin win his career’s first Cup Series Championship this year? Only time will tell.