Denny Hamlin Surprisingly Takes Shot at Joe Gibbs Racing Teammate Martin Truex Jr.: ‘What a A——‘
Denny Hamlin isn’t someone who shies away from sharing his thoughts about others. This year alone, he’s taken shots at NASCAR, a journalist, 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan, and driver Bubba Wallace.
If Hamlin is willing to blast those closest to him, including one of the biggest names in sports, it should come as no surprise he won’t hesitate in calling out his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. That’s exactly what happened this week when he called Martin Truex Jr. an “a——.”
Denny Hamlin called out Michael Jordan earlier this year
Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan have been friends and worked together in business for more than a decade, Hamlin wearing the Jordan brand. With such a close relationship, Hamlin had no problem publicly calling out His Airness and his golf game earlier this year.
In February, NASCAR posted a Q&A session with Hamlin and Bubba Wallace on Twitter and asked who had the best golf game, including Jordan. Wallace admitted he was third while Hamlin struggled to concede Jordan was better.
“Me and Jordan, we used to play even. I mean, he owns a golf course now. He plays a lot of golf. Listen, I’m the workhorse on this dadgum team, so he’s probably got to give me a few strokes now,” Hamlin begrudgingly admitted in the video.
However, Hamlin had apparently recorded the video and given his answer before he and Jordan had hit the links in Florida before the Daytona 500. He gladly amended his answer on Twitter after NASCAR posted the video.
“I revise my final answer after the spanking I put on him in Daytona. #stillwinning,” Hamlin wrote.
Denny Hamlin fires shot at Martin Truex Jr. and calls him an ‘a——‘
With Hamlin’s willingness to call out the NBA Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest player of all time, no one in his orbit is safe. Not even his quiet teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Martin Truex Jr.
This week a chart was posted on Reddit that broke down which drivers follow other drivers on Twitter. Of the JGR crew, Hamlin and teammate Christopher Bell both follow 23 other drivers. Conversely, Kyle Busch follows eight drivers while Truex follows just five.
Bell, Busch, and Hamlin follow each of the drivers on the JGR team. Truex, however, just follows Busch, and unsurprisingly, that drew a response from Hamlin.
“Truex doesn’t follow 11 or 20? What a a**hole. I only say this cuz I know he won’t see it,” Hamlin tweeted.
Called out Bubba Wallace on more than a few occasions
While Hamlin has a sense of humor and willingly takes shots at those closest to him, he’s also fired some not-so-funny shots this year at Bubba Wallace. And it’s happened more than once.
At Talladega, Hamlin expressed his frustration with Wallace, who had one of the fastest cars on the track but appeared to have no interest in working with any of his Toyota teammates.
“The same thing happened at Daytona,” Hamlin said over his radio.
A few weeks later, Hamlin didn’t mince his words when addressing Wallace and the No. 23 team’s struggles.
“You’ve got to just optimize your day,” Hamlin said in an interview with Fox’s Bob Pockrass. “That’s something that team has not really done a great job throughout the year is finish where you’re running. They’ve run inside the top 10 in three races and had a car capable of contending for a top 5, and mistakes take them out of it. I think they’ve really got to work on their execution. Bubba has to continue to evolve as a driver.”
Whether Hamlin has a funny or serious thought about someone else in his head, there’s a good chance it will make it into the Twittersphere. And based on his track record, no one is safe.
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