Denny Hamlin sounds off on Kyle Petty’s suggestion that he could be replaced by a younger driver

“It just dumbfounds me, but it’s also not surprising,” Denny Hamlin said about the idea that he could be replaced soon.

Welcome to FTW’s NASCAR Feud of the Week, where we provide a detailed breakdown of the latest absurd, funny and sometimes legitimate controversies and issues within the racing world.

This week’s feud falls somewhere between the funny and absurd categories, and it’s got a little bit of sass to it, thanks to Denny Hamlin.

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver is one of the best on the track. He’s arguably the top driver who has not won a Cup Series championship (yet), he was the favorite to win the season-opening Daytona 500 (but Michael McDowell did) and one of the favorites headed into last weekend’s road course race at Daytona International Speedway, which his teammate, Christopher Bell, won.

And that brings us to this week’s feud with Hamlin — who finished fifth and third, respectively, in the first two races — taking exception to the analysis of that win from NBC Sports’ Kyle Petty. Let’s break it down.

Christopher Bell’s win and Kyle Petty’s reaction

Although Bell was not among the top-10 favorites to win at Daytona’s road course, he’s a talented driver who’s new this year to Joe Gibbs Racing in just his second full-time Cup season. Sunday’s checkered flag was the first win for the 26-year-old driver in his young career.

Looking at what Bell’s win could mean for Joe Gibbs Racing — Cup champions Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. round out the four-car team — former driver and NBC Sports analyst Kyle Petty suggested the victory is a sign that young drivers are ready to replace the veterans.

On the network’s racing show, Splash & Go, Petty said:

“You talk about [Bell] being 26, we’ve got Harrison Burton, you talk about Ty Gibbs. If I’m a veteran driver in the Gibbs organization, I’m looking over my shoulder and in the rearview mirror because I’m watching my replacement out there win race, win races at the Xfinity level, win races at the Cup level. So that’s gotta light a fire under a Denny Hamlin, under a Kyle Busch.”

For reference, Burton and Gibbs — two young Toyota drivers who have yet to run a race in the Cup Series — are 20 and 18, respectively, while Hamlin and Truex are 40 and Busch is 35. Burton won four second-tier Xfinity Series races in 2020, and Ty Gibbs, owner Joe Gibbs’ grandson, won his Xfinity debut Saturday. Still, that’s a long way from Busch’s two titles, Truex’s one and Hamlin’s three Daytona 500 trophies.

And either way, it appears this clip lit a little something under Hamlin.

Denny Hamlin responds on Twitter to the perceived slight, and Brad Keselowski chimed in too

Hamlin responded Tuesday to the NBC Sports’ Twitter video with two screenshots from the network’s NASCAR account, seemingly not calling out NBC Sports overall but Petty and his comments specifically.

Hamlin rebuked the comments about young drivers by pointing to his future and early success in the 2021 season.

The first screenshot is from a story earlier this month about Hamlin and primary sponsor FedEx signing a multi-year contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing. The second screenshot is of a graphic @NASCARonNBC tweeted showing the current standings after two races with Hamlin at the top.

Hamlin also clarified he wasn’t talking about fans speculating about the future. He was talking about expecting more from analysts, presumably like Petty, “because it’s unlikely he has any clue what’s going on currently.”

And it appears Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski — who is in a contract year after signing a one-season extension in 2020 — didn’t love this analysis either.

Hamlin expands on his tweets

During a Zoom press conference Wednesday, Hamlin further explained what he meant in his response and said it “certainly” was about him being listed specifically as a driver who could be replaced. He said:

“I can understand it coming from fans because they’re not prefaced to information that analysts or media are. So my thing was just like, have you not seen one article in the last — have you watched one race in the last two years? Have you seen any articles about re-signing? Like, I don’t know. It just dumbfounds me, but it’s also not surprising. …

“I’m not sure who I can equate it to in another sports world, but essentially someone else that’s at the top of their game, and [analysts are] like, ‘Oh, this guy scored 30 off the bench, he’s coming for your starting position.’ OK…”

Hamlin has a point when you remember he won seven races last year and six the year before. Truex — who also recently signed a multi-year extension with Gibbs — had an off season with only one win in 2020, as did Busch, who’s signed through at least 2022. But last season aside, in the previous two seasons combined, Truex had eight total wins, while Busch had six.

Fans are loving this sassy side of Denny Hamlin

Before Hamlin elaborated on his tweets on Wednesday, his fans were excited to see a vocal side of the No. 11 driver with his snide response. And it looks like he picked up some new ones too.

As for Hamlin’s somewhat new comical and snarky tweeting, the driver joked: “Obviously, since I am at the end of my career, why care at this point?”

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