A day after defying his father’s wishes, Denny Hamlin discloses how he reacted to the ‘I beat your favorite driver’ comment

Denny Hamlin touched upon his father's reaction after the Joe Gibbs Racing driver taunted fans with the 'I beat your favorite driver' comment recently. Hamlin, speaking about the incident, shared how his father, Dennis Hamlin, reacted to it.

After winning the FireKeepers Casino 400 at the Michigan International Speedway, Hamlin taunted the crowd with "Daddy, I'm sorry, I beat your favorite driver, folks" in the post-race interview. This came after Hamlin beat Chris Buescher of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, a Michigan native.

The #11 driver recently addressed the ordeal, stating that his father was upset. The driver had previously stated that his dad had asked him not to say the phrase. When asked about the same in the Actions Detrimental podcast on YouTube, here's what the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said:

"[Dennis Hamlin] Still doesn't love it" (43:15 onwards)

Here's Hamlin's reaction on the Actions Detrimental podcast on YouTube:

Denny Hamlin pulled off a masterclass at the recently concluded NASCAR Cup Series race at Brooklyn, Michigan, when he fought against the odds to claim the victory. He got the better of William Byron, who led 98 of the 200 laps, but ran short of fuel with one and a half laps to go.

Hamlin also beat teammate Ty Gibbs, who was managing fuel as well, and sped past Buescher to take the win. With this, he secured his third win of the season, matching Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. Thanks to his victory, Hamlin moved to third in the drivers' standings.

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Denny Hamlin makes his feelings known after claiming emphatic Michigan win

Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts after the Joe Gibbs Racing driver claimed his third win of the season at Michigan. Speaking about how he pulled off the masterclass where multiple drivers faced the fuel issue, here's what the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver stated:

"I was going all out pretty much the entire time. Once I got to the lead, that's when I started saving. He kept telling me I was good and I knew I was going have to go 100 percent to get around everybody, but just worked them one by one." (via X/Sports on Prime)

Denny Hamlin started the race from third place after a decent qualifying on Saturday. Interestingly, he remained in the same position by the end of Stage 1, but moved down to eighth place by the end of Stage 2. In the final stage, Hamlin overtook Byron, Buescher, and Gibbs to secure his win.

Currently, Hamlin has 494 points to his name after 15 races, with three wins, seven top-5, and eight top-10 finishes. He led a total of 455 laps and faced two DNFs. Hamlin's average start position has been 11.733, and his average finish position has been 13.467.