NASCAR

Defiant Denny Hamlin Reveals ‘Super Power’ To Haters On The Heels Of Martinsville Win

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By
Jared Turner
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Jared Turner Sports Editor

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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Sports Editor

Published02 Apr 2025

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Denny Hamlin - Martinsville

When a driver prevails in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, the highlight of their celebration is usually posing in Victory Lane with the coveted grandfather clock awarded to winners at the fabled Virginia short track.

But after triumphing on Sunday for the first time in 2025, Denny Hamlin craved more than just a photo op with the iconic Martinsville prop. He wanted to get his hands on a flag — and the not the checkered one that drivers customarily hoist near the start-finish line moments after winning a race.

The flag Hamlin sought had a number and words on it.

So, what were those words and what message was the veteran driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing trying to convey?

Denny Hamlin’s Post-Race Celebrations Remain Highly Unpredictable

As Denny Hamlin has aged and grown more outspoken in recent years, his victory celebrations have become increasingly entertaining. Some might even assign another word to them: provocative.

For a very short period of time, Hamlin’s habit after winning a race was to look out at the fans of rivals and tauntingly yell, “I beat your favorite driver!” during his televised interview.

But Denny’s father, Dennis — the person largely responsible for getting his son’s racing career off the ground — frowned upon this antagonistic practice, so Denny decided to forgo it rather than make it a permanent ritual.

These days, no one knows exactly what Hamlin will do upon climbing from a race-winning car. So, when he asked a crew member after Sunday’s race to hand him a ready-made flag bearing the message, “11 AGAINST THE WORLD,” it took most people by surprise.

Among those caught off guard were the three announcers in the FOX Sports broadcast booth. Collectively, the trio of veteran announcer Mike Joy and former Cup Series drivers Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer offered a mixed reaction.

“Really?” an oh-so-skeptical-sounding Joy asked cynically when the crew member handed Hamlin the flag.

“He was headed in such a good direction,” Harvick quipped.

“Everybody liked him … this time,” Bowyer piped in.

While Hamlin has become one of the most polarizing drivers in the sport because of antics such as this, the crowd at Martinsville — a rural town in his home state of Virginia — mostly cheered when he grabbed the flag and started waving it around.

Denny Hamlin Explains The Reason Why He Loves To Run His Mouth

Brash. Demonstrative. Controversial. Oozing with confidence. These adjectives all describe Denny Hamlin — especially the 44-year-old version of Hamlin, who has become exponentially defiant with age.

With his victory at Martinsville, Hamlin won for the 55th time in NASCAR’s premier division, tying 1989 champ Rusty Wallace in victories. Ironically, during his days as a driver, Wallace never passed on an opportunity to tout his accomplishments or get into the head of his competitors.

So, perhaps, achieving this milestone — which Hamlin was readily aware of — made him extra brazen this past weekend. When a reporter noted after the race that even Wallace never raised a flag like Hamlin’s in celebration, Hamlin made no apologies for his post-race display.

“‘Why not?’ is the question,” Hamlin said with a grin. “Why not? It’s just that that’s me. I mean, go shoot hoops with me, play pickle ball with me, play golf with me. If I can’t sh** talk, it takes away my super power. I’m not nearly as good.”

Hamlin was plenty good at Martinsville, a track where he used to dominate but hadn’t gone to Victory Lane in 10 years. He led 274 of 400 laps on the way to winning a race for the first time since late April 2024.

Now locked into the playoffs, the three-time Daytona 500 winner is guaranteed an opportunity to chase an elusive first NASCAR Cup Series championship when the playoffs commence in September.

Rest assured that Hamlin will be channeling his “super power” as often as he possibly can — not just for the remainder of 2025 but until he retires from driving. Based on a comment Hamlin made after his Martinsville win, it doesn’t sound like retirement is anywhere on the near horizon.

“That’s a long way away,” he said.