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Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin has issued an apology for a tweet about a fellow NASCAR Cup Series competitor. He used a “Family Guy” clip to joke about Kyle Larson’s wreck-sparking move at Talladega Superspeedway.
The tweet, which Hamlin later deleted, showed an Asian woman driving with Larson’s name superimposed over her. She asked how much turn signal she needed to cut across eight lanes of traffic. “None? I turn now. Good luck, everybody else,” the character said. The tweet then showed video of Larson making contact with Kurt Busch and sending the 23XI Racing driver into the wall.
“I took down a post I made earlier today after reading some of the comments,” Hamlin tweeted after deleting the clip. “It was a poor choice of memes and I saw how it was offensive. It came across totally wrong. I apologize.”
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NASCAR Addressed the Tweet
GettyDenny Hamlin could face repercussions after tweeting out a ‘Family Guy’ meme.
Hamlin apologized and deleted the tweet about Larson, who is of Japanese descent, but the situation is not yet over. NASCAR informed Hamlin on April 26 that he must complete sensitivity training. He will have to begin by the end of the week.
Section 12.8.1.e of the NASCAR Rule Book specifically covers “public statement and/or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.”
The sanctioning body has issued penalties to other drivers in the past based on violations of this section. NASCAR sent Kyle Busch to sensitivity training after the October 31, 2021, race at Martinsville Speedway for his use of the R-word in a post-race interview about late contact from Brad Keselowski.
The sanctioning body also sent Truck Series driver Hailie Deegan to sensitivity training ahead of the 2021 season, her first as a full-time driver in the series. She used the R-word during an online racing event that streamed on Twitch.
Hamlin Has Previously Tweeted Out Jokes About On-Track Incidents
The tweet about the Geico 500 wreck is not the first that Hamlin has directed toward Larson after a race came to an end. He also did so in 2020 after a trip to Auto Club Speedway, albeit with reversed roles.
Coming through… @KyleLarsonRacin
The driver of the No. 11 tweeted out a video that showed him running into the Larson with his shopping car at a grocery store. He said “my bad, sorry” after hitting his fellow driver while Larson laughed and walked away.
This tweet was in reference to an incident during the Auto Club 400. Hamlin had pushed Larson on the track while they were tandem drafting, but the move sent him hard into the wall. The No. 42, which Larson drove at the time, finished 21st and one lap down. Hamlin ended his day sixth overall.
The two Cup Series drivers are friends in real life. They golf together, and they travel to races on Hamlin’s plane. This arrangement even turned heads during the 2021 season as Larson used Hamlin’s plane to travel from the Knoxville Nationals in Iowa to Indianapolis for a Cup Series race. The reason is that they were locked in a battle for the regular-season championship at the time, and Hamlin was helping his competitor arrive in time to fight for points.
“When I was younger, my racing career was done, and a guy that was standing behind me in a sign-in line [at the local track] offered to pay for me to go the next week because we couldn’t afford it,” Hamlin told FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass on August 13, 2021. “He said, ‘If you’re not there, we didn’t beat the best.’ So I’d rather him be here than not.”
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Denny Hamlin Apologizes for ‘Offensive’ Kyle Larson Tweet