Kevin Harvick reacts to Denny Hamlin provoking fans to boo him: “He loves it”

On the latest episode of his podcast "Happy Hours," former NASCAR Cup Series star Kevin Harvick gave his take on Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin's Michigan victory celebration. Harvick also revealed the reason behind the 200-lap winner provoking the crowd.

Hamlin, known for his "making no friends" attitude, won the FireKeepers Casino 400 last weekend, marking his third triumph of the 2025 season. He qualified third for the 200-lap race and maintained his position during stage one but struggled a bit in stage two, falling to eighth place. However, the JGR driver crossed the finish line 1.099 seconds ahead of Chris Buescher and provoked the fans while celebrating his victory.

Reflecting on the same, former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick recalled his conversation with the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver about celebrating in such style:

"He loves it."

"I asked him about that. I said, "I said you seem so comfortable, and you're like you're having fun with it." He's like, "Look, I give them the first opportunity to show their reaction, and then I figure if they can flip me off and boo at me, then I can go right back at them." So he definitely seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the position that he's in with the fans, but I think they love to hate him," he added [03:45 onwards]

Denny Hamlin ranks third on the Cup Series points table with 494 points to his credit after his Michigan win. He has secured three wins, eight top-ten finishes, and seven top-five finishes in 15 starts this season. Additionally, the Cup Series driver has led 455 laps, including five in the last race, with an average finish of 13.467.

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"Denny's running out of opportunities": Kevin Harvick got candid about Hamlin's championship hopes this season

Earlier in the 2025 season, after the Phoenix race, Kevin Harvick, a former Stewart-Haas Racing driver, believed that Denny Hamlin's best days in the Cup Series might be behind him.

Hamlin had a slow start this season and failed to land a spot in the top ten drivers. He finished behind his teammates, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, during the time. Reflecting on the same, Kevin Harvick believed the JGR driver was running out of opportunities to become a contender for the 2025 championship.

Harvick stated (on the Happy Hour podcas):

"I've been in that position that Denny is in. When you know that number is clicking down and you're going through another race that you had an opportunity to win, it's not always that we have next year, right? And Denny's running out of opportunities to not only win a championship, but to win races, and he wants to win races, he's capable of winning races." [19:50]

Denny Hamlin has won 57 races in 701 starts but has never lifted the Cup Series championship trophy in his career. The other driver with the same luck is Junior Johnson, with 50 career wins.