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Denny Hamlin, NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver? Don’t Laugh Yet

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
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Denny Hamlin

With voting for the NASCAR Cup Series’ Most Popular Driver of 2025 set to conclude at noon Eastern on November 3, five drivers have emerged as the leading vote-getters.

They are, in alphabetical order: Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.

Wait a second. Denny Hamlin?

No, that wasn’t a misprint. The same Denny Hamlin who gets booed and heckled by fans almost every time he wins a race is apparently now among the handful of drivers who are the NASCAR Cup Series’ most popular.

Who knew? But it begs the question: Can the oft-vilified Hamlin actually win the big prize?

Denny Hamlin Downplays Seemingly Out-Of-The-Blue Surge In Popularity

Told on Thursday that he ranks in the top five of the voting for Most Popular Driver, Denny Hamlin called it “shocking.”

The latest voting results, which NASCAR released on October 29, followed an earlier release where Hamlin ranked in the top 10. Upon learning of those results, made available two weeks prior to the latest ones, Hamlin decided to have a little fun with the fans on social media platform X.

Speaking during a Thursday media availability ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series season finale, the Championship 4 qualifier offered a more serious reaction to the latest vote count, which showed him in the top five per the fans.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been in the top 10,” Hamlin said. “So, that in itself was quite a shock. Yeah, I don’t know what’s changed. I certainly do appreciate it.”

So, where does Hamlin expect to ultimately finish in the voting since he’s in the top five coming down the homestretch?

“Probably fifth. But as long as those guys keep voting, you never know,” the winner of 60 Cup Series races, including three Daytona 500s, said with a laugh. “I think the chances are slim. But we’ll see.”

What Has Turned The Tide On Denny Hamlin’s Popularity?

While no one can say for certain what has seemingly made Denny Hamlin more liked by the NASCAR fan base, the veteran driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has at least a theory on the matter.

“Yeah, I’m not really sure what it is,” Hamlin said. “I think it’s probably a culmination of all of it. I think that sometimes things are in the moment, as well. Like, I think that one of the defining moments in my popularity was Martinsville 2017. That was (an on-track incident) with Chase (Elliott). That was a negative moment for the popularity.

“I think races like Las Vegas (where Hamlin won three weekends ago) could sometimes have the opposite effect. I do think that people can only understand you for what they see on TV. Sometimes you rub ’em the wrong way. And sometimes they connect with you.”

If on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway Hamlin finally captures his first NASCAR Cup Series title, it could boost his popularity even more. Or it could damage it.

Either way, Hamlin is doubling down on the idea that wrecking now-perennial Most Popular Driver Chase Elliott eight years ago did some real damage to his reputation. On the flip side, Hamlin seems pretty persuaded the raw emotion he showed after recently triumphing in Las Vegas perhaps helped land him among the top five in Most Popular Driver voting.

“I think those were two moments that maybe turned the pendulum,” he said. “I’m not sure. Certainly, it’s super-unusual to see my name on the list.”

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
Jared Turner is a motorsports writer who has covered NASCAR for 20 years. He has interviewed over 20 NASCAR Hall of Famers and around 100 drivers, crew chiefs, and team owners, both past and present. He has also covered the sport for FOX Sports (where he was a two-time recipient of the FOX “X” Award for “Xtraordinary” job performance), NASCAR.com, Sporting News, NASCAR Pole Position Magazine, the SPEED network, and plenty of other online and print-only publications throughout his career. Notably, Jared has penned dozens of articles for NASCAR souvenir programs, including several featured prominently in Daytona 500 keepsakes. A Virginia Press Association award winner and former member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Jared has racked up accolades both for his writing and his academic work. He studied both Communication and Psychology at Virginia Tech, where he was permanently enshrined in Phi Beta Kappa — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Jared excels at feature writing and opinion writing, much of which stems from his dedication to all levels of racing.
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