"I wasn't personally offended by it" - When Kyle Larson responded to Denny Hamlin's tweet that stirred NASCAR community reaction

After Denny Hamlin shared a reportedly racial stereotype post on X two years ago, Kyle Larson shared his reaction. The Hendrick Motorsports driver stated that he was not personally offended by the post but also spoke about "millions" of other people who could be offended by it.

Following the conclusion of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 24, 2022, Hamlin strongly criticized Larson's driving in the last lap. However, his criticism did not end there. He referred to a Family Guy meme that stereotypes an Asian's driving skills on the road.

The anti-Asian tweet was made keeping in mind Larson's ancestry, which comes from Japan, as his mother is of Japanese origin. Larson's full name is Kyle Miyata Larson. However, the tweet blew up, and fans began to call out the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

Understanding the gravity of the situation, Hamlin deleted the post immediately and apologized for his action. Following this, Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports asked Larson to share his thoughts on the controversial meme targeting him.

"Yeah man, I think NASCAR did what they had to do, and I appreciate Denny going through the steps to learn from that obviously it's just poor judgement on his part," Larson said.

"I think in the position that we're in we have to be very careful of what we're putting out to the public. So I know he'll learn a lot in the next couple of weeks. I think we're all ready to move past it to get back and focus on racing," he added.

When asked if the meme offended Larson personally, he stated:

"I wasn't personally offended by it, but I know he's my friend but I know and I think he knows now there's millions of other people a tweet like that could offend. So no hard feelings for me, but I think like I said after you put something out there you realize how offensive it can be."

NASCAR took cognizance of Denny Hamlin's action and ordered a disciplinary step. They mandated sensitivity training for the #11 driver, and Toyota in their statement, also supported NASCAR.

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Denny Hamlin owned up to his mistake after Kyle Larson's tweet

After the post surfaced online, and fans began to share their reactions, Denny Hamlin understood he was over the line, and shared his apology.

"I took down a post I made earlier today after reading some of the comments," he wrote. "It was a poor choice of memes and I saw how it was offensive. It came across totally wrong."

Kyle Larson (5) crashes into Denny Hamlin (11) during the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Speaking about the meme that he posted, the JGR driver further added:

"Someone gave it to me and I thought it was hilarious. But it also is insensitive," Hamlin said. "I definitely understand how some people could find it offensive. And if it's one, then it's one too many."

Notably, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are good friends off the track and stern rivals on the track. Both the drivers qualified for the 2024 NASCAR playoff, but failed to make amends as Joey Logano claimed his third Cup Series championship.