Denny Hamlin is Being Himself Like NASCAR Wants—But Fans Don't Like It

Kelly Crandall — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:08:45 -0500

Since the death of Dale Earnhardt NASCAR fans have longed for a driver that had a take no prisoners attitude.

A driver that could back up his talk on the racetrack and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.

Tony Stewart has said he doesn’t want that role; he doesn’t want to be the go-to guy in the garage. And after his comments a few years ago about NASCAR and his subsequent sit down with the top dogs, seems he’s sticking to that.

Nearing the end of the 2009 season it seemed the perfect driver had emerged in Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. The only problem was that Hamlin’s new attitude was met with a different result than Earnhardt’s.

While Earnhardt was praised, and sometimes criticized, for his rough and tumble nature, Hamlin has received an outpouring of nothing but criticism for his actions.

In October he started using the popular networking site Twitter to express his opinions. Soon his fans were personally connecting with him on how they felt about the happenings around NASCAR.

“You really don’t get a good idea for what the fans think until you see it through several thousands people who have a response to a race or how it goes,” he said about the site.

Things took a visibly more noticeable turn the weekend of the fall Talladega race.

After NASCAR “changed the rules” about what would be acceptable bump drafting, Hamlin was enraged and expressed as much. Some fans understood his position that it wasn’t right for NASCAR to do.

To be more precise, Hamlin actually questioned who was in charge.

“Jeff G [Gordon] told NASCAR we shouldn’t be bump drafting. Cuz they never did in the past. Who’s running this sport??”

Later he would say, “A lot of people just agree with NASCAR because they don’t want to get in trouble with NASCAR, but the truth is the truth.”

What had Hamlin so fired up that day was that NASCAR told the drivers in their pre-race meeting that they were banning two cars from hooking up and shooting to the front.

Something that Hamlin felt he was really good at and was an advantage.

“It’s just frustrating that Gordon has got that much pull with NASCAR…I just wish everyone could have equal say-so and not just somebody behind closed doors being able to change how the rules go,” he said.

“Ultimately, he’s going to lobby to NASCAR saying, ‘We don’t need to push.’ Why? Because his car didn’t push well. So it was an advantage I felt like I had gained over the last couple of years and had it taken away basically right before the race.”

Fans didn’t like what Hamlin had to say or how outspoken he was. Many said that Hamlin had no right to question a driver that has been in the sport longer than he has.

But Hamlin didn’t back down.

His next target was the recurring incidents that he’s had in the Nationwide Series with Brad Keselowski. Hamlin’s side of the story is that Keselowski has wrecked him on four different occasions and that he’s yet to repay the favor.

After the two tangled at Phoenix Hamlin came right out and said he would cash in his chips at Homestead a week later.

Hamlin kept his word and on lap 35 he sent Keselowski spinning down the frontstretch, which he called well worth it after having to serve a one-lap penalty for rough driving.

And yet, fans still aren’t happy. Some called him immature for his constant bickering with Keselowski and say that he’s a whiner when things don’t go his way.

In reality, Hamlin isn’t doing anything that any legends of the sport haven’t done. But instead of being embraced, it seems it’s going to take more time to win over NASCAR nation.

In a time when ratings are down, Jimmie Johnson is dominated the sport, and it seems there are so many things to complain about, Hamlin is giving people everything they’ve asked for.

He’s being aggressive, outspoken, and entertaining. He’s not robotic, or vanilla, he’s being himself, which is what fans have said they want. Now they’ve got it and they don’t like it.

It doesn’t matter to Hamlin though, who’s enjoying his role. As he said, he’s opinionated and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime in the near future.

Read more Jeff Gordon news on BleacherReport.com

Jimmie Johnson Is Not a Great Driver...Just Sayin'

David Yeazell — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:16:08 -0500

Every form of media has saturated the market for weeks now speculating Jimmie Johnson’s fourth title. His history making championship was all but secured when the checkered flag flew at Richmond International Raceway; it just took 10 weeks to make it official.

Now the media pundits have turned their focus and keyboards to a different hype, one that includes monikers like great and greatest.

While NASCAR is still an ongoing sport, it is impossible to establish who is, or was, the greatest driver.

Johnson is being compared to Earnhardt, Petty and Yarborough. These comparisons, while having some merit, are by far inconclusive and lack foundation.

Earnhardt and Petty’s seven championships are the most in NASCAR history at this time. But each driver accomplished these feats under very different, and albeit difficult circumstances.

Each championship was secured by running a full 36 race season under the direction of multiple crew chiefs and with different types of race cars.

Earnhardt’s championships were won with three different crew chiefs, two different owners and three different Chevrolet body designs (Impala, Monte Carlo and Lumina). Cale Yarborough won back to back titles, changed crew chiefs, and won his third in row.

Johnson has won four consecutive championships by winning the best of 10 races four times. All four championships have been with the same crew chief, same car make, and, by being able to run a mediocre season of 26 races, only needing to remain inside the top 12 in points.

Once the best of ten starts, better known as the Chase, the sandbagging stops, Chad Knaus flips his magical switch that NASCAR cannot find, and Johnson drives away from the competition.

It wasn’t that long ago Jeff Gordon was touted as being the greatest driver. After securing his third championship with Ray Evernham, Gordon was also being compared to Petty, Yarborough and Earnhardt.

Since Evernham’s departure in 1999, Gordon has added just one championship trophy to his resume, and has spent the past eight years driving for five.

Johnson’s accomplishments might be the measuring stick, benchmark, or standard for this generation of racers, but even then, great or greatest should be reserved for those drivers who, unlike Johnson, have accomplishments in more than one racing discipline.

Jeff Gordon has championships in USAC, Sprint Cup, and Rookie of the Year honors in Nationwide and Sprint Cup. Tony Stewart has championships in IRL, Sprint Cup, and USAC. He was also Rookie of the Year in all three. Greg Biffle has championships and Rookie of the Year honors in Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series.

Jimmie Johnson is in fact re-writing the history books. While it is certain to be omitted, prudence demands that Chad Knaus’ history of fines and penalties be included in these re-writes.

Titles and descriptions using the words great and greatest should be reserved for multi-talented, multi-dimensional drivers, not a driver who, is at best, a single-dimensional achiever.

Photo Credit: David Yeazell

Read more Jeff Gordon news on BleacherReport.com

Bleacher Report - Jeff Gordon

Denny Hamlin is Being Himself Like NASCAR Wants—But Fans Don't Like It

Jimmie Johnson Is Not a Great Driver...Just Sayin'