"He is such a hypocrite": NASCAR fans react to Denny Hamlin's response to Bubba Wallace's post-race gesture

The NASCAR playoff race at Kansas Speedway ended with Denny Hamlin not pushing his 23XI Racing driver, Bubba Wallace, for a race win. Instead, he dived inside and made light contact that put the No. 23 into the wall. That move opened the door for Chase Elliott, who went from eighth to first in the final two laps and grabbed a dramatic win.

During the cool-down lap, Wallace showed a middle finger toward his team's co-owner. Hamlin, who also finished second despite leading 159 laps, brushed it off when speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast, separating his role as a driver from his role as a team boss.

"If he were to flip me off in 23XI as the car owner, we’d have employer-employee problems. But as a competitor, he’s flipping off the driver of the 11. I don’t have an issue with that… But anything directed at me as an owner, I would certainly have exception to that. Because as an owner, I know the tremendous resources that myself and Michael (Jordan) give Bubba every single week to go out there and compete," he said.

Fans online weren’t convinced. Many called Denny Hamlin’s comments hypocritical on the Dirty Mo Media X post. One fan summed up the wider sentiment and wrote:

Sir Tailgates A Lot

@SirTailgate

He is such a hypocrite

One fan referenced Ty Gibbs racing Hamlin hard at New Hampshire in the earlier race, as others echoed the sentiment.

tom

@loveehh33

But when Ty did the same exact thing @dennyhamlin hated it!

UVANATSKINSHMS

@uvanatskinshms

Ironic he’s talking about getting fingered

One fan pointed out how six Toyotas lost the race to the lone Chevrolet.

🌴Dank Sinatra🔥

@DankSinatra06

For somebody who wrecked himself, his company, and his manufacturer, he sure thinks awfully highly of himself. Champions would never.

Still, some fans sided with Hamlin.

Dolphins Josh

@jwd272

My takeaway from this podcast and all the fallout from this weekend is that there’s a lot of rules, Denny didn’t break any of them, and Denny wrote said rule book

Had Bubba Wallace held on, it would have been his first trip to the Round of 8, and Hamlin would be +32. Instead, the JGR driver sits at a safe +48 heading to the Roval, a track in which he does not have a good record.

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Denny Hamlin reacts to Bubba Wallace’s post-race comments: "I agree with him"

Denny Hamlin (11) and Bubba Wallace (23) during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500. Source: Getty

The closing laps of the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas carried more weight than just a victory. A win would have locked Bubba Wallace into the next round, but the No. 23 instead slid into the wall and left its driver frustrated yet controlled in his post-race interview.

"Two years ago, I’d probably say something dumb — ‘He’s a dumbass for that move. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we’re going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet there," he told post-race, via NBCSports.

Denny Hamlin praised Wallace for handling the situation differently than he might have in the past. Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast, he said:

"I think he handled it as good as he could and he had as good an attitude as he could… no matter what he felt on the inside, I think he did a great job of showing his passion, voicing his displeasure without being over the top. I thought he was very measured outside the car. And certainly I agree with him. We probably would have saw a different interview a couple years ago, right?" (45:01 onwards)

The result left Wallace 26 points below the cutline, as the NASCAR Cup Series turns to the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte for the eliminator. With the race ready to settle the Round of 12, the stakes are higher than ever for both Wallace and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing.