NASCAR insider drops four-word reaction on settling differences with Denny Hamlin after driver intros incident

An online beef brewed between NASCAR insider Mamba Smith and Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin at Daytona about five weeks ago. Their latest meeting, during the driver intros at Kansas, showed that tempers between the two haven’t subsided.

In a recent X video by VivaLaEthan, Hamlin was seen ignoring Smith during the driver introductions at Kansas Speedway ahead of the Mobil 1 301 playoff race. The user suggested that the two should come together on a podcast and resolve their differences.

Smith responded to that, saying:

“I would do it.”

Smith could go to Actions Detrimental, or Hamlin could come over to Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast, which Smith co-hosts. However, Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, hasn’t responded to the idea yet.

Denny Hamlin sits fourth in the playoff picture with a 48-point cushion on the cutoff line. Last Sunday at Kansas, the Tampa native finished second behind Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports.

“Just super disappointing,” Denny Hamlin said about his day. “I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 (wins) for me. The team just did an amazing job with the car, just really, really fast. Gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed. Just couldn’t finish it there on the last corner.”

Next up for Hamlin is the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course. Scheduled for this coming Sunday, October 5, the 109-lap event will be televised on USA, 3 pm ET.

Denny Hamlin reveals fans’ “disconnect” between dual NASCAR duties

Denny Hamlin is the owner of 23XI Racing, a full-time race team operating in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team fields three cars driven by Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and series newcomer Riley Herbst.

On Sundays, Hamlin’s duty as a driver matters to him the most. So he drives like he didn't owe anyone a dime. His "I-am-not-here-to-make-friends" attitude was evident when he drove into the corner, sliding into Bubba Wallace's No. 23 Camry during the final lap of Sunday’s playoff race at Kansas Motor Speedway.

“On Sunday, I’m the driver of the No. 11 car and not the owner of the 23 car,” Hamlin explained in the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, via Yahoo Sports. “That’s where the disconnect, I think, comes from is that people expect me to be a different person.”

“They expect me to be the guy with a 23XI shirt when I’m in the 11 car and that’s just not possible,” he added.

Denny Hamlin is the longest-tenured driver in the NASCAR Cup Series without a championship. Ranked second in the championship standings, the Toyota star owns five wins, 13 top-5s, and 16 top-10s with 3118 points to his name.