Motorsport News

Danny Dietrich Vs. Denny Hamlin & Late Model Silly Season

Dietrich

1. Danny Dietrich vs. Denny Hamlin

If I could go back in time and put a wager on whether 2022 would feature a Twitter feud between Pennsylvania sprint car hot shoe Danny Dietrich and three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin, I’d be retired as of today.


But ongoing fallout from NASCAR’s decision to suspend Bubba Wallace for getting violent with dirt racing superstar Kyle Larson twice in a span of minutes led to the unlikeliest of spats breaking out.


There was a further exchange between the drivers for those who wish to dive deeper into Twitter. 

I’m not sure there was a winner here. Yes, Hamlin had a point that Dietrich, no matter how talented a racecar driver he is (and speaking as someone that lives a short distance from Pennsylvania sprint car country, he is talented), is not versed in NASCAR Cup racing. However, there’s also no denying that Dietrich had a point about Hamlin’s initial Twitter salvo having some ugly overtones to it.

2. Dirt Racing Community Has Kyle Larson’s Back

What was more noteworthy about the social media explosion that proved what happens in Vegas definitely doesn’t stay there was how quickly the dirt racing community rallied behind Larson after he narrowly averted injury. From a purely unscientific perspective, I will say that my dirt racing Twitter feed was more alight this past Sunday than during any other Cup race in 2022, and that in no small part is because, well, sprint car driver Zach Hampton said it best.


Brian Walker of Walkapedia Chili Bowl fame immediately weighed in as well.


The reality is despite Larson being a Hendrick Motorsports driver and a defending Cup champion, he is still embraced from coast to coast as a dirt racer. Without exception, every dirt race I’ve attended in the last year with Larson in the field has seen him draw the loudest (and universally positive) ovation of anyone in the field. While there’s no doubt some of those fans are drawn by off-track motivations relating to his 2020 suspension, the reality is the vast majority of the fans at…

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