“You COOKED that choke artist”;“I think somebody else should do your job!” - Fans react to viral Denny Hamlin x Marcus Smith conversation 

A recent conversation between current NASCAR Cup Series driver and team co-owner Denny Hamlin and Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith has been picked up by NASCAR fans as the latest controversial exchange between top figures in the sport.

What started out as Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin's criticism of the newly repaved Sonoma Raceway and the deteriorating condition of the new asphalt turned into a heated exchange between Marcus Smith and the 23XI Racing co-owner. With multiple tweets being exchanged, Smith ultimately took the tweets down and posted a follow-up to his conversation with Hamlin.

NASCAR fans reacted to the same tweet and to the viral conversation with their take on the situation. Some fans sided with Marcus Smith on his Denny Hamlin analysis:

"Should left the posts. You COOKED that choke artist."

Some others sided with Hamlin and his outlook during the conversation:

"Out of all due respect, I think somebody else should do your job!"

"Bottom line: Denny was right."

"Way to back track," one fan wrote.

"LMAO great job PR person but can you at least tell us the information that Denny was supposedly lacking? Like what’s going on with the pavement? You’ve yet to actually address it," another fan wrote.

"Looks like someone had a meeting with PR this morning," rued another.

It remains to be seen whether Hamlin's calls for a change of track reconfiguration efforts by Speedway Motorsports will have an effect on the sport going forward.

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Denny Hamlin spoke on the same topic during the 2021 Atlanta Motor Speedway repave

Calling for more driver involvement before crucial changes to tracks relevant to the NASCAR Cup Series are made, Denny Hamlin also spoke about Speedway Motorsports' history of repaves and track alterations and how they have affected the sport at that certain track.

The 23XI Racing co-owner spoke about how the majority of the tracks that were changed have seen a decline in the quality of racing or have been omitted from the schedule altogether. He wrote back in 2021 during Atlanta Motor Speedway's reconfiguration:

"With all due respect. This same group has reconfigured Texas, Kentucky, Bristol with 0 driver input. One of those lost a race, other one we don’t race anymore and last one we put dirt over it. But hey, what do the drivers know"

Drivers such as Kyle Larson also chimed in on the subject and told Jenna Fryer in 2021:

"I wish they would talk to everybody about it. We have more experience than the fans, you know, I've raced hundreds of different racetracks. I feel like we have a better understanding of what really makes good racing"

Meanwhile, the sport heads to Martinsville Speedway this weekend as Cup Series drivers prepare to go short-track racing at 'The Paperclip'. The 2024 Cook Out 400 goes live on Sunday, April 7, 2024 at 3:00 pm ET.