Kevin Harvick reacts to Denny Hamlin as NASCAR heel, bad guy after Michigan win

Kevin Harvick has watched as Denny Hamlin has adopted a heel persona over the last few NASCAR Cup Series seasons. Instead of trying to become a fan favorite, Hamlin has embraced the hate like some of the top professional wrestlers in the business, similar to John Cena and Seth Rollins in 2025.

That was never more true than after this past weekend’s win in Michigan for Hamlin. He broke out his “I beat your favorite driver” catchphrase again, before making an Ohio State reference in front of a crowd filled with Wolverines fans.

While some drivers would shy away from the vitriol, Hamlin has leaned into it. Harvick has seen it first-hand, and he believes the No. 11 wheelman is more comfortable than ever with his persona.

“He loves it,” Harvick proclaimed, regarding Hamlin being a driver fans love to boo, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “… I asked him about that. I said, ‘You seem so comfortable, and you’re like — you’re having fun with it.’ He’s like, ‘Look, I give them the first opportunity to show their reaction, and then I figure if they can flip me off and boo at me, then I can go right back at them.’

“So, he definitely seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the position (of being a heel) that he’s in with the fans. But I think they love to hate him.”

As Harvick alluded to, Hamlin isn’t ignorant to his standing with the crowd. While he does have his fair-share of fans, there’s a large contingent that love to hate him. As long as they’re making noise, it’s all the same to him.

“You’re definitely feeding into it,” Hamlin told Harvick. “I always give fans the first opportunity to show me where they’re at. I don’t try to antagonize them until I get some sort of reaction. And then it’s my turn to have a rebuttal. If they’re allowed to boo, I should be allowed to antagonize them. I think that’s the only thing that’s fair. It is fun.

“I said to my team this morning, winning is so fun. We should do it more often. It really is. It just makes you feel good. We started this last season the same way. I think we won three of the first 11 or 12 races last year, first three of the 15 or so this year. But we just lost a little speed last year. We need to keep the speed that we got.”

Whatever it takes for Denny Hamlin to have the success he’s vying for. The real question is what he’ll do if he ever wins a championship. He’ll certainly have to plan his best celebration yet for that moment.