NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin has been in the news as of late for all the wrong reasons.
Fellow Cup Series competitor Kyle Larson made a move during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway that resulted in a multi-car wreck that was the talk of the racing world.
WOW! @RossChastain gets to the lead late to win at @TALLADEGA! pic.twitter.com/Db5rGpN1Ti
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 24, 2022
Hamlin decided to speak out about the crash in the wrong way, posting a video from the popular television show “Family Guy” to poke fun at the accident.
Here's the removed Denny Hamlin tweet https://t.co/XVuhfTNID4 pic.twitter.com/lFRfDJev6z
— That LEGACY Jones Fan (@thatjonesfan) April 26, 2022
This was obviously a poor decision by Hamlin due to the fact that the clip depicts an Asian woman driving poorly, a longstanding negative stereotype towards Asians, coupled with the fact that Larson is of Asian descent.
Hamlin received a ton of backlash following the tweet, and has since deleted it and posted an apology for his poor taste in comedy.
“I took down a post I made earlier today after reading some of the comments. It was a poor choice of memes and I saw how it was offensive. It came across totally wrong. I apologize.”
I took down a post I made earlier today after reading some of the comments. It was a poor choice of memes and I saw how it was offensive. It came across totally wrong. I apologize.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 26, 2022
Hamlin was far from the only racer who criticized Larson for his reckless move during the race, but he clearly took a very wrong approach in his attempt at a joke.
NASCAR noticed this as well and has dished out disciplinary actions toward Hamlin on Tuesday, announcing that he must complete sensitivity training by the end of this week.
Statement from #NASCAR related to Denny Hamlin:
"This morning, we alerted Hamlin that he must complete sensitivity training and the process must be started by the end of this week." pic.twitter.com/8rnprC9WPY
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) April 26, 2022
It’s unclear what exactly will be in NASCAR’s sensitivity training with Hamlin, but it is at least good that they have established this type of content will not be tolerated going forward.
