Denny Hamlin responds to boos after Cup Series playoff win: ‘I beat your favorite driver’
Denny Hamlin gazed at the crowd, a smile on his face and his hand raised.
The subject of a serenade of boos at Bristol Motor Speedway, Hamlin had turned his attention toward the grandstands during his NBC Sports post-race interview.
“Hey,” he told the vocally dissatisfied fans several times as their boos poured down on the victorious driver. “I beat your favorite driver.”
“Who would that be?”
“All of ‘em,” Hamlin said as he walked off.
That can’t be taken away from him. Hamlin only led for 139 laps in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race, but he stayed ahead of the pack when it mattered — holding off Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell late in the final stage.
It marks Hamlin’s third victory of the season and first since July. He received similar treatment from the fans after his last win, at Pocono Raceway. The boos have only gotten more prominent, but they seem to be fueling the 42-year-old driver’s confidence.
“Everybody likes a winner, right?” Hamlin said. “It’s our year. I just feel like we’ve got it all put together. We’ve got the speed every single type of racetrack. Nothing to stop us at this point.”
Hamlin didn’t need this win to advance to the Round of 12, as he had clinched his position on points during the race. Eyes were on the 16 playoff drivers, and they found themselves all over the pack.
Defending champion Joey Logano was eliminated when he wrecked out of the race. Kevin Harvick, the outgoing former Cup Series champion, couldn’t accumulate enough points to advance.
Longshots Michael McDowell and Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. needed wins. McDowell ran in the Top Five for most of the race, ultimately finishing sixth.
“Tonight it wasn’t enough. We were in a must-win situation,” McDowell said post-race. “Not quite enough to run with those top two or three guys, but pretty good.”
Martin Truex Jr., the regular-season champion and No. 2 seed who entered on the bubble following a Lap 4 crash at Kansas, finished 19th and had enough points to advance. Bubba Wallace finishing 14th and claimed the 12th and final spot in the next round.
And Wallace received the same reaction from the crowd that Hamlin, his co-owner at 23XI Racing, did during his interview with NBC Sports.
“Good, I love that (expletive) right there,” Wallace said over the booing. “Like Coco Gauff said, all they’re doing is adding fuel to the fire. I love it.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2023 at 6:15 AM.