Joey Logano registered his first win of the season at North Wilkesboro yesterday, but the thing that’s got people talking right now is the gesture Denny Hamlin made to the Penske driver. 

Hamlin, who has spent years trading on-track incidents and verbal jabs with Logano, surprised many fans by publicly congratulating his longtime rival with a handshake after the race. While speaking to Frontstretch, instead of focusing on their history, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver acknowledged Logano's dominant performance at North Wilkesboro.

“Joey was exceptional. I'm surprised there was that many cars on the lead lap, truthfully, just because he had raw speed. He had it from Lap 2 on the restart. I think there was one lap that he was vulnerable on restarts, and after that, he was locked in and gone." 

He continued in the media interaction uploaded by Frontstretch, "So it's just you got a short track like this, six cars on the lead lap, 100- and what-lap run over 150-lap run on. You're going to have very few cars on the lead lap, especially when you have a dominating car like he had.”

Sometime afterwards, Hamlin also posted a picture on his official X handle, where the two were seen shaking hands, with the caption, “That’s just short track racing.” 

The two have been tense rivals since 2013, shortly after Logano left Joe Gibbs Racing for Team Penske. That season, the two exchanged barbs on social media after the Daytona 500 before making contact at Bristol, where Logano confronted Hamlin on pit road after the race.

There were other on-track incidents between the two as well, but things flared up again in 2019 at Martinsville. Hamlin moved Logano out of the way while battling for the win, prompting an angry confrontation on pit road after the checkered flag.

Fans prefer seeing the two as fierce rivals

Following Hamlin’s gesture of sportsmanship towards Logano, fans delivered many humorous takes. One such user on X said, “13-year-old me would never believe this.”

Another user added, “Denny, this is worse than seeing UNC and Duke players get along for me”, with a GIF of Natalie Portman’s Padmé Amidala saying, ‘You’re breaking my heart.’ 

One user referenced Carson Hocevar said, “There is Carson who's trying to trigger the entire cup garage, and then there's you guys singing kumbaya. I mean, sure, it's respectful, but man, at least try to create some ruckus.”

Another user referenced the duo’s intense moments over the last few years with a collage, saying, “This interaction left us feud-chasers speechless. We love this but we also hate this, Dennis.”

Another user said, “My brain doesn't comprehend  yall being friendly after a 1-2 finish on a short track.” 

What do you think of this new dynamic? 

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Written by

Aaradhya Singh