“Daddy, I’m sorry”: Denny Hamlin publicly apologizes to his father after intentionally going against his wishes post the Michigan win

Denny Hamlin took no prisoners during his victory lane celebrations at the FireKeepers Casino 400. In a fiery post-race interview, he began with an apology to his dad before teasing the crowd for beating their 'favorite driver.'

During Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway, Hamlin displayed a masterclass in fuel mileage that ultimately trumped his competition. William Byron, who led a race-high 98 of 200 laps, was overtaken by Hamlin with four laps to go while he struggled to save fuel.

After clinching his third win of the season, Hamlin was met with boos from the Michigan crowd during his post-race interview, prompting the star driver to respond with his signature taunt, 'I beat all your favorite drivers'.

The classic jibe was first delivered by Hamlin after his 2023 win at Bristol Motor Speedway. He later admitted the comment upset his father, Dennis, leading him to retire the catchphrase.

"I'm gonna retire the 'I beat all your favorite drivers' because I got a text - and those of you saw the Netflix special with my dad - he sent me a text. He says, 'Son, you got to stop that. I don't like it. It's just too cocky blah blah blah' and I'm gonna listen to dad on this one," Hamlin said (via The Daily Express US)

However, the 44-year-old couldn't keep his promise after the 2025 Michigan win, though he made sure to apologize to his dad before delivering the line once again.

"Daddy I'm sorry. But I beat your favorite driver folks," he said via X/Sports on Prime.

When the interviewer asked him who his favorite driver was, he added,

"All of them"

The win lifted Denny Hamlin to third spot in the Driver standings, overtaking his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Christopher Bell, who fell to fourth after finishing outside the top 10. Byron, meanwhile, still leads Hamlin by 82 points at the top.

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"Just worked them one by one": Denny Hamlin reflects on his late-stage win at Michigan

Denny Hamlin mounted a late-stage charge at Michigan International Speedway, moving up from 11th to 5th with just twenty laps remaining. The day's most dominant drivers were William Byron and Carson Hocevar, but the two drivers burned up fuel during their battle for the lead, while Hamlin, who'd only led five laps the whole race, had enough left in the tank to apply pressure during the end stages.

However, the JGR driver was lucky to scrape by himself, as he ran out of fuel while doing burnouts after the race win. Speaking to the media post-race, Hamlin explained his fuel-saving strategy.

"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," Denny Hamlin said via X/Sports on Prime

Denny Hamlin previously fell victim to a fuel mishap at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He was poised for the win after pitting from second behind William Byron, but a pitstop error saw little to no fuel enter his car, resulting in an additional pitstop that dropped him from contention.