Denny Hamlin had to retire his famous “I just beat your favorite driver” line because his dad didn’t like him saying that. While speaking with former NASCAR star Kenny Wallace, Hamlin detailed the conversation he had with his father about the phrase.
“He did call me numerous times,” Hamlin said. “My dad’s one of those guys you don’t pick up the first time, he’s going to just gonna keep calling you.”
Hamlin then revealed what his father said to him. “‘Denny, I got a problem.’ I’m like ‘What’s the problem, Dad?’ Hamlin said. “He’s like, ‘You gotta stop that s***.’ He’s like ‘That’s just too cocky.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but Dad it gets a rise out of the fans and that’s awesome.’ He’s like ‘I don’t like it. You better stop that right now. I’m like ‘Alright Dad. I’m gonna listen to you on this one.'”
What Hamlin told Wallace is similar to what he told his fans on the Actions Detrimental podcast in February. “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,” Hamlin said at the time.
“He sent me a text and he said, ‘Son, you’ve got to stop that. I don’t like it. It’s just too cocky.’ I’m going to listen to dad on this one. So we’re going to retire it,” Hamlin explained. “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.”
Hamlin might not say the line again, but he continues to race at a high level. This season, the 43-year-old has won three races, making him one of only four drviers to reach that mark. On Sunday, Hamlin finished second at Pocono Raceway behind 2023 Cup Series Champion Ryan Blaney.
“Never lose a race, just always run out of time, right? That’s just part of it,” Hamlin said after Sunday’s race. “Track position is such a big thing. When the 12 jumped on that stage that we won, that put them in front of us. Certainly was going to be hard to pass. Not just enough laps of green there towards the end.”
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