NASCAR: Denny Hamlin Cracks Joke About Rear-Ending, and Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson Fans Are Not Pleased

NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin posted a video on Sunday that showed him bumping into fellow driver Kyle Larson with a cart at the grocery store. This video was joking in nature, but it drew the ire of team owner Chip Ganassi. It also caused frustration for fans of both Ryan Newman and Larson.

Following this clip surfacing on Twitter, several fans responded with criticism toward Hamlin. Some felt that he needed to grow up while others said he didn’t deserve to win the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17. Although some fans were experiencing rage and laughter at the same time.

“I’m actually still pretty angry about it, but lol,” one racing fan said.

The reason for the uproar on social media is that many fans blamed Hamlin for Larson’s car going into the wall and requiring maintenance during the early stages of the Auto Club 400.

“When you claim you were being pushed by another driver, but wasn’t. Same excuse as Martinsville a few years ago. He just wanted to wreck Larson. Like he did Chase [Elliott]. Can’t race clean,” one fan said about Hamlin. There was a belief among some of Larson’s supporters that the driver of the No. 11 Toyota had purposely sent Larson into the wall with his maneuver.

There were a considerable number of reactions to this grocery store video, which led to even more arguments on social media. Some of the fans loved that Hamlin was joking around with Larson while others just couldn’t believe that he would make light of the situation in such a manner.

“This is what happens when Hamlin wins a Daytona 500 he thinks it’s funny showing folks how he did it. Grow up Hamlin. You shouldn’t have won that one Ryan Newman should have!” another NASCAR fan wrote on Tuesday.

The reason that the Daytona 500 was mentioned is that Hamlin was the victor in the season-opening race. However, he nearly lost to Newman. The driver of the No. 6 Ford Mustang was poised to secure the win but crashed near the finish line. This delivered the victory to Hamlin, angering many of the fans.

While Hamlin and Larson both appeared to be laughing in the grocery store after this “collision,” some users on social media were not entertained. They were upset with the driver of the No. 11 Toyota and felt that the video should not have been filmed.

(Photo Credit: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)