How NASCAR’s Denny Hamlin Became So Polarizing

Denny Hamlin, the three-time Daytona 500 champion who is entering his 19th full season in the NASCAR Cup Series and has won 51 races in his standout career, has rightfully earned a reputation as a brash, outspoken driver who sparks the most boos on the circuit. “It doesn’t matter whether I’m playing basketball, pickleball, or whatever, if I can’t talk sh-t, then I just feel mortal,” Hamlin tells TIME in a phone interview a few days before the 66th running of the Daytona 500, the Great American Race, on February 18. “I feel vulnerable. So I use it to help get into the other compe…