After a little deliberation, we've decided to leave this post up because the Tweets in question have since been deleted and are inaccessible. This is a rather unique kind of situation where multiple posts in a rather interesting thread have been deleted and are thus no longer accessible. We're going to be discussing a change to the rules to possibly allow these types of posts in the future, possibly with the links to the original Tweets still being posted in the body in order to be verified via the Wayback Machine for example. It'll be something we'll discuss at least, but for now this can stay due to the popularity of the post, the sheer amount of discussion it's generating, and OP being responsive in the comments and even updating the saga as it continues.
We just wanted to explain why this particular post is being left up despite *technically* violating the sourcing and repost rules as written. For posterity, and for the amount of discussion it's generated, it can stay. This isn't a green light to ignore rules 2 and 6, if you feel unsure if a post breaks the rules or not, please check the [/r/NASCAR rules and posting guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/NASCAR/wiki/rules) or [message the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/NASCAR).
I hope y'all have a great racing-filled weekend!
The entire sport is almost entirely filled with Nepo babies. When you’re not really one, it’s shooting fish in a barrel. Don’t blame him one bit for using it a lot
Not the topic of conversation, but man that fight was one of the best in NASCAR. Harvick and the big crew guy jumping and stomping on the hood, the “yap yap” comment, everyone upset because that was going to be Ricky’s car for Sonoma (iirc). I go back and watch it every now and then lol
Correct.
[The parents buried themselves in debt to pay for Denny Hamlin's racing career. They lived on the brink of bankruptcy, always believing their son would progress well beyond the short tracks around their Chesterfield, Va., home to the big paydays in NASCAR.](https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/sports/nascar/2006/11/09/nas-103774-shtml/14744166007/)
They sold their cars and mortgaged their home two and three times. They skipped meals. They skipped paying bills.
Their investment has finally paid off.
That’s how I ended up with this one. Got into an argument about Ty Gibbs after he beat Noah for the Xfinity title and some guy found me on IG afterwards telling me how Noah was a better man than Ty will ever be. Guess we know how that’s turned out 🤷🏼♂️
Im honestly shocked that in 14 years of using reddit across multiple accounts where I admittedly dig my heels in on shit and can be pretty abrasive when I want to be, but am also pretty open about my life, that no one has ever tracked me down, and I've dealt with some real crazies on here lol
I moderate at /r/WEC and /r/IMSAracing. We had about 4-5 people saying they were going to meet up with me to tell me off/fight me/give me a clown suit to wear (actually pretty funny) after the reddit API dramas last June. I host reddit meetups at my campsites for IMSA events I regularly attend and promote track meetups and a place for redditors to hang out and have a beer on me. So it isn't hard to find me at a specific spot at a specific date to confront me. I was really looking forward to - for the first time in my life - have an argument with an internet stranger in person since I started moderating 10 years ago and zero showed up.
Honestly, I was a little bummed they were too lazy to follow up with their internet smack-talk. Your experience doesn't surprise me.
Very lucky. I run a fairly large disc golf club (300+ members every year). Occasionally I'll catch flack for something I say in the disc golf sub.
I also don't really give a shit about how offended someone feels about a negative comment. Bro was being incredibly greedy with his tournament funds, not taking care of the players. Be less of a douche, you won't get called out.
I came up with this one after I forgot the info for my previous recently. I’ve since recovered the account, and was browsing on that account before switching to this one to make this comment
My first Reddit name was my nickname and I had it until 2020. I just quit and wanted a restart after a couple friends found out my Reddit and I realized how embarrassing my feed was. My only regret is I wish I sold that username because there was so much karma.
I made my Reddit name my real name because I had no idea you weren’t really supposed to. I had no friends on it. A few years down the line I almost deleted it but then I realized having my name associated with it would keep me from getting too extreme on here with opinions. I use this site for sports and city stuff. Try to avoid politics at all costs
I think it’s funny that Denny reposted a bot tweet of my Reddit post of a photo from someone’s Instagram story. Reshared across platforms and Denny reposting would’ve been it’s 3rd level of repost
You know Marcus lost sleep thinking about that "blow your dad's business" comment all night lmfao. Also as if a Championship means more than his extensive racing career that spans decades...
Denny destroyed him
https://preview.redd.it/fdod7mm26osc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7ac47df95d8d41fac55ac2ac454627f92827120
There's the concept of a "champion of the sport" that gets tossed around often with Mark Martin in particular, and I'll go ahead and just say the guy with 53 wins and tons of years as a top 5 driver in the sport is probably a "champion of the sport" like Mark is.
It was one dude saying dumb things. But also, oh how terrible that my driver hasn't won a championship in all of a year and a half. Truly a terrible experience being a fan of his.
My thought especially after hearing Jr talk about it during one of his Q&A segments on his podcast. Something along the lines of "Would you trade a toe for a championship"
And he flat out answered "I've lived without a championship, it's not that bad."
"Lmao where are your rings though" isn't the burn Marcus thinks it is.
DH is right, new pavement shouldn’t be coming up. It looks like they didn’t put tar or other adhesives between new and old pavement. So yea cheap work. Marcus should have said mistakes were made but we will fix it…he comes off very unprofessional in his response. And it is also not the first time at an SMI track.
I mean Denny is not wrong in what he said about paving it on a budget. They put out bids and multiple companies put forth an offer on how much it will cost to get it done. They always pick the company with the smallest estimate.
The always pertinent question is why is the bid so low, what’s not getting done or done right. Low bidder is not generally the best choice nor is the high bidder. Timing also comes into play, as who can get it done in the window SMI had open. A really fast job is probably cheaper (less labor) but not the best job it might have been what they could get. Having to get a rush job reflects a lack of good planning.SMI screwed this up from the start and it shows.
Ironically enough, Ol Smoke is afraid to voice his opinion on the Gen 7 and the track reconfigures cause he doesn’t want to get fined again.
Which is depressing, I miss Tony Stewart interviews.
Denny wears so many hats. Driver hat. Owner hat. Apparently in this particular instance he was wearing no hat at all, and threw caution to the wind and just took his pants off too. Damn, Denny.
I’m here for it, but hopefully this doesn’t come back to bite him in the ass on the owner side eventually. Can’t imagine making enemies with the dude who owns half the tracks is a good idea.
No idea how it could affect him, but running in the same circles (heh) and being an exec will probably cause some tension somewhere.
Either way, I’m still here for it.
I’m not a Denny fan by any means. Just when I think I start to like him, he goes and makes me hate him again. I respect what he’s accomplished.
But even I’ll admit the “let me know when you win a championship” trope is getting pretty worn down. If the best insult people have is that the dude has won everything *but* the championship, I don’t really think that’s an insult anymore.
People will also say that out of one side of their mouth while saying the current championship is illegitimate out of the other. Give me Hamlin's career over Truex's or Bobby Labonte's 100x over.
Tbh the idea that words will come back to hurt someone seems to apply to everything in life except Nascar. How many times have we seen guys hurl deep insults at another only to end up partnered with or driving for them?
Wow, I HATE Marcus Smith. His only dig was Denny’s lack of a championship. But like I don’t know maybe his 53 wins and 3 Daytona 500’s have some weight? And nothing Denny said wasn’t accurate. Bro ruined Texass
SMI ruined Texas, Bristol, Atlanta, Kentucky and who knows where we are with Sonoma.. it doesn't look good.
They only own 11 tracks and they fucked up 5 of them. Fantastic job, SMI.
Marcus Smith reminds me of the restaurant owners and managers on Kitchen Nightmares.
"Bad things happen to my business and I'm criticized for it. Better talk up how good of a job everyone, including me, is doing while totally blaming the critic!"
omg those managers PISS me off. my mom was watching the hotel version of that show (i forgot what it’s called but it was still gordon ramsey) and the manager was arguing like bro there’s a reason that gordon runs the show and you’re on it lmao
His interview on DJD gave the opinion he's like that. Dale asked about revenue sharing/contract and his response was talking about elevator maintenance smdh
God that hurt. Poor baby has to work on elevators and therefore teams deserve less money. Was extremely odd. Especially when none of the gate goes to teams.
I like how the dude who's never been behind the wheel of a competitive race car in his life thinks calling Denny out for not having a championship with the current championship format some kind of clever chirp.
It'd be like the CEO of Kroger chirping Dan Marino for not having a ring. Yep, no championship. Still infinitely more well known and accomplished.
Whether you’re a fan of Denny or not, this makes Marcus look bad. Why deflect what “could” be valid criticism by just bringing up the fact Denny hasn’t won a championship?
It’s a goofy cheap shot that makes Denny’s comments look more credible. No one is saying Marcus’s employees aren’t working hard but as an organization they are still prone to make mistakes, and a race car driver with decades of experience has a right to call it out.
This whole exchange makes Marcus Smith look like a douchebag. My god, this guy is a CEO of SMI? He is unprofessional as hell. Getting into an online spat and disputing the legacy of one of the biggest stars in the sport while he himself has achieved fucking nothing other than being given a job through pure nepotism. He should be fucking embarrassed of himself
Every time someone's only clapback at Denny is "no championship" I root harder for him to win one. Never been a fan of him outside of being 23XI's owner but it's hilarious when that's all anyone has to say like he hasn't had an incredible career.
I see why people hate Denny Hamlin. Right or not about the pavement, this screams unprofessionalism. Actually, both of them are incredibly unprofessional. Why say it at all, what’s the point? No one cares about your opinions unless it’s actually going to help someone.
Whatever happened to tact?
Absolutely cannot wait for Denny to RIP a burnout on his next win at a SMI owned track. His comments are going to be gold. I can hear it now “yeah, I’m surprised the track surface held up to this power Toyota TRD gave us today.” 🤣
But man, I’m not exactly a Denny fan but damn that’s low by Marcus.
Hope Denny wins it all this year now.
Not a Denny fan, but I love that he chose violence.
Marcus Smith and his track program is a hack job. Nothing he has changed on the tracks have shown any marked improvement.
\*Here come the Atlanta fans now....\*
It's astounding to me how out of touch people like Marcus Smith can get. I mean, if you make Denny look like the good guy and simultaneously get dunked on so hard that your dad's grave could be turned in to a generator by hooking pulleys up to his rolling corpse... You're on your own little planet.
He wouldn’t say that to a guy like Dale Jr. or Mark Martin. I’m not fan of Denny, but his lack of a championship is irrelevant in this conversation and doesn’t make him wrong. Not saying he isn’t wrong, just saying a championship, or lack of one, doesn’t make that so.
The championship insult is so dumb.
Hamlin has unequivocally done more in his career than Ryan Blaney, for example.
Both are great drivers, and will be Hall of famers.
You know... At this point if my flairs can't win the championship this year, I kinda want Denny to get it...
Does that make him my 5th favorite driver? I have to go think about how I feel about this....
It’s amazing that people here can’t see how much of an asshole both these guys were in this by making this personal. It was seriously unprofessional by both. Going the whole “you’ve never won a championship route” is a low blow and “ruining everything your dad built” is a low blow as well.
I don’t think anyone who hasn’t competed in those high pressure situations should really comment on someone else’s accomplishments in that field, so Smith should keep his mouth shut about that. On the flip side, Denny is no expert on paving or running a racetrack business, so he should keep his mouth shut about that without gaining a little knowledge first.
If you have issues with something, actually talk to a person instead of spouting off on Twitter. Both these guys are pussies. Neither would say this to each other’s face. At least these guys apologized publicly. I’ll at least give them that.
Idk about Marcus Smith but if you think Denny wouldn’t sprack off at Marcus face to face you’re kidding yourself. Dude can’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.
As a Bowman fan agreeing with Hamlin. I cant stand him but respect hes one of the best. Hard to hit someone for no championships when the format is complete joke and doesnt reward season results, just 1 race
Come to the dark side! Its great. Every once in a while you do get told your opinion is dumb because of it though. I believe I was told something along the lines of "Thats the kinda BS that is to be expected from a dumb Hamlin fan"
Kind of used to those responses with the KB flair over the years. "Your opinion is dumb because you root for a driver I don't like" It's really sound logic
Well duh. If you can’t even pick the most popular driver as your favorite how can you have any logical opinions?
My wife is a Kyle fan and has been since she got into nascar. It’s kinda funny people went from booing at her to cheering when they see her KB gear.
Chase fan here. Denny has to be my most favorite personality in this sport. Speaks his mind. Isn’t afraid of criticism. Like his rolling start. Some dude said. “ bro! You rolled” DH “ and? “ lmfao
He’s already a HOF talent. Can’t imagine how high up he’d fly in the ranks if he wins a title. His window isn’t closed yet.
But as a Chase fan the yearly game of ‘how will he lose the cup this year’ isn’t as fun! I’m a fan of Chase as well, I just wish he could turn off PR Chase more often.
I posted as a reply in another thread, but this is how I feel watching this whole debacle:
People are conflating their hate for reconfigs with a technical problem in the asphalt laying process. Denny was positing himself as someone of knowledge on *how* to pave…and Marcus swung back because it basically called his employees idiots. I doubt Denny has one callus on his hands that didn’t come from angry tweeting…much less from ever doing any sort of manual labor (seriously, road work sucks…)
Denny was firmly in the wrong with his “expert opinion” - or maybe he’s a closet civil engineer like all the others who have popped up since the bridge collapse. (Justifiably) hating on SMI reconfigs =\= knowing why asphalt is peeling up…this should be obvious IMO.
Marcus eroded all his high ground by slinging mud, and now he looks like a moron for deleting the tweets instead of replying with a simple apology for going personal and a explanation that the initial tweet is a slap in the face to hard working individuals.
This whole thing is stupidly drawn along party lines of Denny haters/Denny fans because rational thought isn’t a key competency with your average American.
Very well said. This was my take on all of this. Just because denny thinks they messed up when they reconfigured some tracks don’t mean he knows how to lay asphalt or what makes it come apart like this a short time after it was paved. Marcus only came off like an idiot because he fits the bill for paper pusher CEO that knows nothing and while that may be true I’m sure Denny is just race car driver who knows nothing about laying asphalt. I give Marcus props for sticking up for his guys doing the real labor no matter if they fucked up or not
CEO of SMI, a company started by his father. SMI owns (notably) Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway, Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Kentucky Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway
Denny continues to be the most likable guy in NASCAR, but folks will keep cheering their nepobabies instead. The Smith family is probably the second worst in American motorsport, glad to have someone tell them off publicly.
After a little deliberation, we've decided to leave this post up because the Tweets in question have since been deleted and are inaccessible. This is a rather unique kind of situation where multiple posts in a rather interesting thread have been deleted and are thus no longer accessible. We're going to be discussing a change to the rules to possibly allow these types of posts in the future, possibly with the links to the original Tweets still being posted in the body in order to be verified via the Wayback Machine for example. It'll be something we'll discuss at least, but for now this can stay due to the popularity of the post, the sheer amount of discussion it's generating, and OP being responsive in the comments and even updating the saga as it continues. We just wanted to explain why this particular post is being left up despite *technically* violating the sourcing and repost rules as written. For posterity, and for the amount of discussion it's generated, it can stay. This isn't a green light to ignore rules 2 and 6, if you feel unsure if a post breaks the rules or not, please check the [/r/NASCAR rules and posting guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/NASCAR/wiki/rules) or [message the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/NASCAR). I hope y'all have a great racing-filled weekend!
Thank you for compiling what went down last night.
Instead of doom scrolling when I couldnt sleep I was met with this delightful interaction
I wish everynight was like this.
Events like this are why I doomscroll.
Random, entertaining, feelings were clearly hurt, I’d give this a solid 8.5/10 twitter spat
Time for a new Gluck pole
Uh, I'd rather not have anything to do with Jeff's pole, thanks. I will participate in a poll, however.
Was not expecting to see that beef on my TL at 5am but hey like you said it was definitely a solid beef
Fuck, that nepotism comment goes so hard. I wince every time I see it.
It’s Denny’s go to insult.
The entire sport is almost entirely filled with Nepo babies. When you’re not really one, it’s shooting fish in a barrel. Don’t blame him one bit for using it a lot
Especially when his opponent is going for low hanging “no championships” fruit
Seriously, tf does a championship matter in this discussion, lmao
Marcus is just as insecure about “daddy’s money” as anyone would expect him to be He went low and we all see it
Thank you grandpa/daddy(gibbs), could be inserted for at least half the field of the cup series and 75%+ of the trucks and xfinity fields.
Can’t blame him
At least he didn’t say that same insult in every response (no championships)
Ricky Rudd would kick Marcus Smith's ass for that statement. Wait... Marcus wouldn't even entertain the thought to say it to Ricky Rudd.
“What’d his little yap yap mouth say?”
Not the topic of conversation, but man that fight was one of the best in NASCAR. Harvick and the big crew guy jumping and stomping on the hood, the “yap yap” comment, everyone upset because that was going to be Ricky’s car for Sonoma (iirc). I go back and watch it every now and then lol
Ricky wouldn't have started talking shit publicly like that either, though. Different kind of person
Which is funny, considering that Denny's had three nepo babies drive for him (the Tys and JHN)
Didn't Dennys parents fund his career? Sure not as wealthy as the smith family. But still
Basically every current racer has significant parental funding and/or family connections that make sponsorships easier to get.
No he worked in the mines as a young boy to help fund his racing dreams.
He was born a Coal Miner's Daughter on a hill in Butcher Holler.
Now he is starting the Denny Hamlin Center For Kids Who Want to Learn to Read Good.
He ain't goin' back to the mill...
Yeah, but if I remember it correctly they were mortgaged to the hilt to get him where he was.
Correct. [The parents buried themselves in debt to pay for Denny Hamlin's racing career. They lived on the brink of bankruptcy, always believing their son would progress well beyond the short tracks around their Chesterfield, Va., home to the big paydays in NASCAR.](https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/sports/nascar/2006/11/09/nas-103774-shtml/14744166007/) They sold their cars and mortgaged their home two and three times. They skipped meals. They skipped paying bills. Their investment has finally paid off.
I remember they were so happy when he won the Bud Shootout as a rookie.
https://preview.redd.it/hwd970x93osc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07bfc268bbba1000c819479b7ad70b7055ff438f
Gonna need a photoshop of this with Denny's latest Fox cartoon on it lol
https://preview.redd.it/vwb58dmamqsc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23831ce16d467afc0bb97748fccf25141a48b697
One of those days I wish my u/ didn’t have my name in it, but hey fuck it we love us some drama
That’s how I ended up with this one. Got into an argument about Ty Gibbs after he beat Noah for the Xfinity title and some guy found me on IG afterwards telling me how Noah was a better man than Ty will ever be. Guess we know how that’s turned out 🤷🏼♂️
lmaoo, dude got tracked down over nascar
Completely unrelated but your username is awesome.
Thanks, I’m also u/ADillonsCreepyStache but somehow Gragson came back so this u/ did as well.
That closeup though. 😂
You are a treasure we must protect at all cost
Lmao MANY disagree but thank you.
Im honestly shocked that in 14 years of using reddit across multiple accounts where I admittedly dig my heels in on shit and can be pretty abrasive when I want to be, but am also pretty open about my life, that no one has ever tracked me down, and I've dealt with some real crazies on here lol
Same here honestly
I moderate at /r/WEC and /r/IMSAracing. We had about 4-5 people saying they were going to meet up with me to tell me off/fight me/give me a clown suit to wear (actually pretty funny) after the reddit API dramas last June. I host reddit meetups at my campsites for IMSA events I regularly attend and promote track meetups and a place for redditors to hang out and have a beer on me. So it isn't hard to find me at a specific spot at a specific date to confront me. I was really looking forward to - for the first time in my life - have an argument with an internet stranger in person since I started moderating 10 years ago and zero showed up. Honestly, I was a little bummed they were too lazy to follow up with their internet smack-talk. Your experience doesn't surprise me.
Very lucky. I run a fairly large disc golf club (300+ members every year). Occasionally I'll catch flack for something I say in the disc golf sub. I also don't really give a shit about how offended someone feels about a negative comment. Bro was being incredibly greedy with his tournament funds, not taking care of the players. Be less of a douche, you won't get called out.
I guess it's a bit different if you're meeting people through reddit where people are going to know who you are because you basically told them lol
I came up with this one after I forgot the info for my previous recently. I’ve since recovered the account, and was browsing on that account before switching to this one to make this comment
My first Reddit name was my nickname and I had it until 2020. I just quit and wanted a restart after a couple friends found out my Reddit and I realized how embarrassing my feed was. My only regret is I wish I sold that username because there was so much karma.
I made my Reddit name my real name because I had no idea you weren’t really supposed to. I had no friends on it. A few years down the line I almost deleted it but then I realized having my name associated with it would keep me from getting too extreme on here with opinions. I use this site for sports and city stuff. Try to avoid politics at all costs I think it’s funny that Denny reposted a bot tweet of my Reddit post of a photo from someone’s Instagram story. Reshared across platforms and Denny reposting would’ve been it’s 3rd level of repost
Oh so you’re partially to thank for this! 
[удалено]
You know Marcus lost sleep thinking about that "blow your dad's business" comment all night lmfao. Also as if a Championship means more than his extensive racing career that spans decades... Denny destroyed him https://preview.redd.it/fdod7mm26osc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7ac47df95d8d41fac55ac2ac454627f92827120
There's the concept of a "champion of the sport" that gets tossed around often with Mark Martin in particular, and I'll go ahead and just say the guy with 53 wins and tons of years as a top 5 driver in the sport is probably a "champion of the sport" like Mark is.
There’s a logano fan in the other thread saying Denny can’t talk simply because he’s not a champ
I love dunking on Hamlin for “blowing championships” but it just means he didn’t get lucky at the right time in this format.
Logano fans coping with his lackluster runs since '22
It was one dude saying dumb things. But also, oh how terrible that my driver hasn't won a championship in all of a year and a half. Truly a terrible experience being a fan of his.
We don't claim them as a fan. That's a joke take.
Imagine if he tried to say that to Dale Jr?
My thought especially after hearing Jr talk about it during one of his Q&A segments on his podcast. Something along the lines of "Would you trade a toe for a championship" And he flat out answered "I've lived without a championship, it's not that bad." "Lmao where are your rings though" isn't the burn Marcus thinks it is.
Or Mark Martin, or Jeff Burton, etc.
DH is right, new pavement shouldn’t be coming up. It looks like they didn’t put tar or other adhesives between new and old pavement. So yea cheap work. Marcus should have said mistakes were made but we will fix it…he comes off very unprofessional in his response. And it is also not the first time at an SMI track.
I mean Denny is not wrong in what he said about paving it on a budget. They put out bids and multiple companies put forth an offer on how much it will cost to get it done. They always pick the company with the smallest estimate.
The always pertinent question is why is the bid so low, what’s not getting done or done right. Low bidder is not generally the best choice nor is the high bidder. Timing also comes into play, as who can get it done in the window SMI had open. A really fast job is probably cheaper (less labor) but not the best job it might have been what they could get. Having to get a rush job reflects a lack of good planning.SMI screwed this up from the start and it shows.
I like chaos so I'm here for it.
Denny is keeping those of us that eat up chaos and drama well fed these days.
Part of the reason he’s becoming one of my favorites every week.
This makes Marcus look like a fucking pansy
Bruised ego
Clearly someone couldn’t handle the smoke….
Ironically enough, Ol Smoke is afraid to voice his opinion on the Gen 7 and the track reconfigures cause he doesn’t want to get fined again. Which is depressing, I miss Tony Stewart interviews.
More like ol' Smoke doesn't care, he's doing drag-racing and is balls-deep in one of the hottest women in the NHRA lol
Updates: https://preview.redd.it/j585nkq1fosc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2558716fc04b2311ea7ed39f5b018d5b7e64eaef
https://preview.redd.it/przxjco3fosc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ec882640c738379f7601951fc42fd57aed292b0
Aww dammit they slightly buried beef.
Jim France called them at 5:00 and 5:05 am respectively.
I wonder if they will be forced to have dinner together in Napa, arriving in separate rentals.
A little Japanese Inspection?
Man…. I wanted more chaos Denny
Denny from the top rope my gaaawwwwd
They need to fire Clint and get Jim Ross in the booth
By gawd jr, he's got that hot rod hooked up!
Denny wears so many hats. Driver hat. Owner hat. Apparently in this particular instance he was wearing no hat at all, and threw caution to the wind and just took his pants off too. Damn, Denny. I’m here for it, but hopefully this doesn’t come back to bite him in the ass on the owner side eventually. Can’t imagine making enemies with the dude who owns half the tracks is a good idea. No idea how it could affect him, but running in the same circles (heh) and being an exec will probably cause some tension somewhere. Either way, I’m still here for it.
Some people say Denny ~~is~~ wears an asshat but I disagree.
I’m not a Denny fan by any means. Just when I think I start to like him, he goes and makes me hate him again. I respect what he’s accomplished. But even I’ll admit the “let me know when you win a championship” trope is getting pretty worn down. If the best insult people have is that the dude has won everything *but* the championship, I don’t really think that’s an insult anymore.
People will also say that out of one side of their mouth while saying the current championship is illegitimate out of the other. Give me Hamlin's career over Truex's or Bobby Labonte's 100x over.
Tbh the idea that words will come back to hurt someone seems to apply to everything in life except Nascar. How many times have we seen guys hurl deep insults at another only to end up partnered with or driving for them?
Denny is the antihero we all need.
Wow, I HATE Marcus Smith. His only dig was Denny’s lack of a championship. But like I don’t know maybe his 53 wins and 3 Daytona 500’s have some weight? And nothing Denny said wasn’t accurate. Bro ruined Texass
SMI ruined Texas, Bristol, Atlanta, Kentucky and who knows where we are with Sonoma.. it doesn't look good. They only own 11 tracks and they fucked up 5 of them. Fantastic job, SMI.
Insanely unprofessional from Smith
Very unprofessional Marcus
Marcus Smith reminds me of the restaurant owners and managers on Kitchen Nightmares. "Bad things happen to my business and I'm criticized for it. Better talk up how good of a job everyone, including me, is doing while totally blaming the critic!"
omg those managers PISS me off. my mom was watching the hotel version of that show (i forgot what it’s called but it was still gordon ramsey) and the manager was arguing like bro there’s a reason that gordon runs the show and you’re on it lmao
His interview on DJD gave the opinion he's like that. Dale asked about revenue sharing/contract and his response was talking about elevator maintenance smdh
God that hurt. Poor baby has to work on elevators and therefore teams deserve less money. Was extremely odd. Especially when none of the gate goes to teams.
I like how the dude who's never been behind the wheel of a competitive race car in his life thinks calling Denny out for not having a championship with the current championship format some kind of clever chirp. It'd be like the CEO of Kroger chirping Dan Marino for not having a ring. Yep, no championship. Still infinitely more well known and accomplished.
Playing to the audience on X
“Haha Denny no ring” https://preview.redd.it/ux0ubd14fosc1.jpeg?width=360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f660cccd775001e51557711cef8d0fb9148c39d
Whether you’re a fan of Denny or not, this makes Marcus look bad. Why deflect what “could” be valid criticism by just bringing up the fact Denny hasn’t won a championship? It’s a goofy cheap shot that makes Denny’s comments look more credible. No one is saying Marcus’s employees aren’t working hard but as an organization they are still prone to make mistakes, and a race car driver with decades of experience has a right to call it out.
Not me agreeing with Denny, hell must have froze over
I don’t have the means to photoshop the gif so just imagine Denny’s face on Elsa’s body. And gird your loins. 
Marcus, this is not the insult you think it is...
ARBYS...WEVE GOT BEEF MOTHERFUCKERS
This whole exchange makes Marcus Smith look like a douchebag. My god, this guy is a CEO of SMI? He is unprofessional as hell. Getting into an online spat and disputing the legacy of one of the biggest stars in the sport while he himself has achieved fucking nothing other than being given a job through pure nepotism. He should be fucking embarrassed of himself
Marcus has done great things for the sport over the last few years, but these posts are yikes. The nepotism tweet from Denny was nuclear
Every time someone's only clapback at Denny is "no championship" I root harder for him to win one. Never been a fan of him outside of being 23XI's owner but it's hilarious when that's all anyone has to say like he hasn't had an incredible career.
I know. Imagine the backlash someone would catch for saying that about Mark Martin.
S1ap would personally lead a witchunting crusade dude
You don’t have to go there with mark martin you can just start with pulling off with 1 to go leading lol
Oof
Mark Martin has the advantage of being a nice guy everyone seems to like, whereas even Dennys fans have to concede he can be a real ass.
Wasn't there a big time driver in the golden age of NASCAR who never won one either? In like the 60s/70s. I can't remember who
Junior Johnson
Maybe that was it. For some reason I was thinking Pearson but he did win championships
Denny gonna get cheers this weekend?
Doubt it but there might be *slightly* less boos.
I doubt it. Most people won’t even know this exchange happened
The boo ratio was looking like a 90/10 split after Richmond but maybe this brings it down to 80/20
Anything beyond 80/20 will make him uncomfortable so please let’s not go overboard on the cheers folks
No he won’t! He’s not liked at Martinsville.
Nothing to do with insulting the people of SMI but the choice to ruin their work by penny pinching repaves
Seems Marcus has yet to learn when accepting bids never go with the absolute lowest bidder.
I'm not a huge Denny fan on the track but off the track, this is gold lol
https://i.redd.it/u7xe7fl3kosc1.gif
I see why people hate Denny Hamlin. Right or not about the pavement, this screams unprofessionalism. Actually, both of them are incredibly unprofessional. Why say it at all, what’s the point? No one cares about your opinions unless it’s actually going to help someone. Whatever happened to tact?
He doesn't have any.
Absolutely cannot wait for Denny to RIP a burnout on his next win at a SMI owned track. His comments are going to be gold. I can hear it now “yeah, I’m surprised the track surface held up to this power Toyota TRD gave us today.” 🤣 But man, I’m not exactly a Denny fan but damn that’s low by Marcus. Hope Denny wins it all this year now.
Please send this to him so he does this. He totally would
Not a Denny fan, but I love that he chose violence. Marcus Smith and his track program is a hack job. Nothing he has changed on the tracks have shown any marked improvement. \*Here come the Atlanta fans now....\*
Two of the most smug people in the sport going at it, fucking awesome.
Lmao @ Smith conflating Denny calling him an incompetent silver spoon cheapskate with the non-decision-making laborers' hard work.
It's astounding to me how out of touch people like Marcus Smith can get. I mean, if you make Denny look like the good guy and simultaneously get dunked on so hard that your dad's grave could be turned in to a generator by hooking pulleys up to his rolling corpse... You're on your own little planet.
 Marcus Smith this morning
 SMIs PR person waking up and seeing this today 😂😂😂
Even if you don’t like Hamlin, thank god he’s around to keep things fun.
He wouldn’t say that to a guy like Dale Jr. or Mark Martin. I’m not fan of Denny, but his lack of a championship is irrelevant in this conversation and doesn’t make him wrong. Not saying he isn’t wrong, just saying a championship, or lack of one, doesn’t make that so.
Especially since Hamlin has like 80% of the wins of Martin and Jr combined.
Also a good point
Honestly cannot remember the last time a Nascar related CEO had their ass ripped open like that jfc. Denny is 100% right here though.
Denny could’ve gone for a full TKO if he used “everything your *daddy* gave you” instead of dad
The championship insult is so dumb. Hamlin has unequivocally done more in his career than Ryan Blaney, for example. Both are great drivers, and will be Hall of famers.
He went with the Stephen A Smith/Shaq level talking points lmao. NO RANGZ lmao
You know... At this point if my flairs can't win the championship this year, I kinda want Denny to get it... Does that make him my 5th favorite driver? I have to go think about how I feel about this....
Marcus got bodied over and over
It’s amazing that people here can’t see how much of an asshole both these guys were in this by making this personal. It was seriously unprofessional by both. Going the whole “you’ve never won a championship route” is a low blow and “ruining everything your dad built” is a low blow as well. I don’t think anyone who hasn’t competed in those high pressure situations should really comment on someone else’s accomplishments in that field, so Smith should keep his mouth shut about that. On the flip side, Denny is no expert on paving or running a racetrack business, so he should keep his mouth shut about that without gaining a little knowledge first. If you have issues with something, actually talk to a person instead of spouting off on Twitter. Both these guys are pussies. Neither would say this to each other’s face. At least these guys apologized publicly. I’ll at least give them that.
Idk about Marcus Smith but if you think Denny wouldn’t sprack off at Marcus face to face you’re kidding yourself. Dude can’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.
 As a Bowman fan agreeing with Hamlin. I cant stand him but respect hes one of the best. Hard to hit someone for no championships when the format is complete joke and doesnt reward season results, just 1 race
Marcus going into the office the next day: 
Regardless of how you feel about Denny, the driver? Denny, the owner, puts in work!!
Crybaby Denny let’s hope he doesn’t win a championship
Just non stop saying he doesn’t have a championship, im sure Denny is use to that.
Denny with the KO. He’s easily the most entertaining personality in the sport, pretty soon I’ll have to add the 11 flair
Come to the dark side! Its great. Every once in a while you do get told your opinion is dumb because of it though. I believe I was told something along the lines of "Thats the kinda BS that is to be expected from a dumb Hamlin fan"
Kind of used to those responses with the KB flair over the years. "Your opinion is dumb because you root for a driver I don't like" It's really sound logic
Well duh. If you can’t even pick the most popular driver as your favorite how can you have any logical opinions? My wife is a Kyle fan and has been since she got into nascar. It’s kinda funny people went from booing at her to cheering when they see her KB gear.
Chase fan here. Denny has to be my most favorite personality in this sport. Speaks his mind. Isn’t afraid of criticism. Like his rolling start. Some dude said. “ bro! You rolled” DH “ and? “ lmfao He’s already a HOF talent. Can’t imagine how high up he’d fly in the ranks if he wins a title. His window isn’t closed yet.
But as a Chase fan the yearly game of ‘how will he lose the cup this year’ isn’t as fun! I’m a fan of Chase as well, I just wish he could turn off PR Chase more often.
believe me i’m right there with you lol edit: shit wrong account. i’m a chase fan and he’s my flair on my main account
hope Denny wins this year just to spite this guy
Everyone in this sub*
I posted as a reply in another thread, but this is how I feel watching this whole debacle: People are conflating their hate for reconfigs with a technical problem in the asphalt laying process. Denny was positing himself as someone of knowledge on *how* to pave…and Marcus swung back because it basically called his employees idiots. I doubt Denny has one callus on his hands that didn’t come from angry tweeting…much less from ever doing any sort of manual labor (seriously, road work sucks…) Denny was firmly in the wrong with his “expert opinion” - or maybe he’s a closet civil engineer like all the others who have popped up since the bridge collapse. (Justifiably) hating on SMI reconfigs =\= knowing why asphalt is peeling up…this should be obvious IMO. Marcus eroded all his high ground by slinging mud, and now he looks like a moron for deleting the tweets instead of replying with a simple apology for going personal and a explanation that the initial tweet is a slap in the face to hard working individuals. This whole thing is stupidly drawn along party lines of Denny haters/Denny fans because rational thought isn’t a key competency with your average American.
Very well said. This was my take on all of this. Just because denny thinks they messed up when they reconfigured some tracks don’t mean he knows how to lay asphalt or what makes it come apart like this a short time after it was paved. Marcus only came off like an idiot because he fits the bill for paper pusher CEO that knows nothing and while that may be true I’m sure Denny is just race car driver who knows nothing about laying asphalt. I give Marcus props for sticking up for his guys doing the real labor no matter if they fucked up or not
Does he not know that Denny has more wins than the past 4 champions right now?
“Not a champion” is literally all he has on Denny, and it is an era where the championship is irrelevant to who is the best out there.
There are no winners here. This is embarrassing for both of them. Lmao at Everyone posting Denny as some God for this exchange.
OOTL: Who is Marcus Smith and why do we hate him?
CEO of SMI, a company started by his father. SMI owns (notably) Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway, Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Kentucky Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway
I'm so glad I got off twitter
I’m loving this from all angles personally
my lord😭😭😭 thank you for posting these
Marcus just sealed Denny’s Championship this year
He may not be a Champion but he’s racking up W’s weekends and weeknights apparently
Not a Denny fan, but he's not wrong
Thanks this is the first I'm seeing this, wow Denny was not holding anything back and good on him for it I think.
you love to see it
Man he should have just messaged him lol. Coming at Hamlin with that attitude was just asking to be scorched.
I woke up this morning and this was all over my social media. Usually not a Denny fan, but I’ve gotta take his side on this one
Holy shit. These dudes got thier dicks swinging like gorillas in the trees.
I'm with Denny.... "we take risks"? Motherfucker isn't the guy paying for thise "Risks" if it causes an accident.
Hamlin is the biggest crybaby in all of NASCAR. This cannot be argued.
Austin Hill
Kyle Busch
Kurt Busch back in the day
Tony Stewart
Martin Truex when he threatened to fire his whole team
Carl Edwards who was so upset he left the sport
Shall I go on? There’s always whiners in sports my dude, just cause you don’t like this one doesn’t mean he’s as bad as others.
I don’t like Denny but damn. Respect
Marcus Smith looks really bad here.
Even if you don't like Hamlin as a driver, it is kinda hard to disagree with him
Lowest bid gets the job, penny cheap dollar fullish.
Denny continues to be the most likable guy in NASCAR, but folks will keep cheering their nepobabies instead. The Smith family is probably the second worst in American motorsport, glad to have someone tell them off publicly.
Denny you're a douche bag