Denny Hamlin reacts to post-race taunt from Cup Series rival

Denny Hamlin has responded to a quip from a NASCAR Cup Series rival after last weekend's race at Atlanta.

The veteran racer was knocked out of the In-Season Challenge in the first round by the #32 seed Ty Dillon, who finished eighth in the race to Hamlin's official 31st, his race ending after just 72 laps thanks to one of a number of wrecks in the race.

Dillon riffed on Hamlin's infamous 'I just beat your favorite driver' taunt after the race, saying “For all you Denny fans out there, I just knocked your favorite driver out.”

The Kaulig Racing driver, whose eighth place at Atlanta was his best finish of the year, clarified later that he'd meant the comment in fun, insisting he's 'appreciated' the Denny Hamlin vs the World gimmick and that he 'loves' Hamlin leaning into a heel role.

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Hamlin: Give Ty Dillon his moment

Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast this week, Hamlin himself said: “I see people giving Ty Dillon a lot of flak...give him his moment, people. He beat me.

“...He was ahead of me the whole f*cking race. I was 33rd until we crashed. Just let him have his moment. He texted me — he was like, ‘Hey, I was just playing around.’ I loved it.

"If you people think that you are going to hurt my feelings by coming in my mentions and saying, ‘Haha, Ty Dilon beat you,’ like, you’re never going to make fun of me more than I’m going to make fun of myself. You’re not going to offend me. I have really thick skin.

“You open yourself up and when you do that, the moments you fail, they’re going to give it to you. But you’ve got to be a big boy and take it. I am going to take it from Ty Dillon.”

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