Denny Hamlin calls out haters: 'I did not, unfortunately, see them in my mentions' after Bristol

Perhaps no driver in NASCAR has as many critics and haters than Denny Hamlin.

At every racetrack across the country, even his home track of Richmond, Hamlin is showered with boos and subject to a middle finger or two. But after this past Saturday’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol, in which Hamlin finished fourth to advance to the Round of 12, he “unfortunately” didn’t see his haters out and about on social media.

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“I mean, certainly there are groups of people or lots of fans that root for my failure, right? I know that I did not, unfortunately, see them in my mentions this week,” Hamlin said on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast. “Was trying to figure out where all my trolls were this week, because I went back a little bit and maybe saw some people that I could have trolled from what you said last week, but I’m going to be the bigger man here and not say anything, nor give you the attention that you’re so desperately wanting.”

“But it’s cool by me honestly, when they boo and they make so much noise at driver intros, like, I love making them feel some sort of way. And for my buddy steel horse live, who tweeted that, look at this guy that flipped off [Hamlin] every lap he came back around. That’s dedication,” Hamlin said. “I mean, that is someone that, oh, I am just burning up. I’m an ulcer in their body that is just eating them alive, and I love living rent free, yes.”

Denny Hamlin through to the Round of 12 after solid run at Bristol

Hamlin was lambasted for deploying a conservative strategy in the playoff opener at Atlanta, which ultimately put him behind the eight-ball going into Watkins Glen and Bristol. A P23 result at Watkins Glen meant he would have some work to do at The Last Great Colosseum.

While Hamlin nor the rest of the field had anything for race-winner Kyle Larson, who led 462-of-500 laps, his performance was enough to push him through.

“My aspirations were to win it – but it looked like [Larson] was better than all of us. Solid car,” Hamlin said after the race. “I thought we were really good towards the middle of the stages, and then at the end, got too loose and couldn’t hang onto what we had.

“Overall, top-five day, good stage points – kind of in the mix, just not really as good as we’ve been here the last few times, but overall, I want to thank this whole FedEx Toyota team for giving me something I can move on with.”