Who would’ve thought that in the year 2023, seven years after he retired, that Jeff Gordon would be feuding with Denny Hamlin? But here we are.

Last week, Jeff Gordon during in interview stated that while he gave credit to Hamlin stirring up controversy, he would never want his drivers at Hendrick Motorsports to act that way. Hamlin completely disagreed when discussing the topic on his podcast and said that Gordon’s way of thinking is hindering the growth of the sport and big name personalities.

While both men have solid points, it is very important to understand how controversy and personality helped expand NASCAR’s popularity throughout the years. If Gordon’s advice were followed during the 1979 Daytona 500, then Cale Yarborough wouldn’t have fought the Allison brothers because it would cast a black eye (no pun intended) on the sport. Instead, this one event helped out NASCAR on the map in regions outside of the South. 

Furthermore, the peak of NASCAR’s popularity in the 1990s was in part created because of the allure of Dale Earnhardt Sr’s driving style by being a championship driver who was not afraid to rub fenders. His ability to create controversy by having altercations with Darrell Waltrip in 1986 at Richmond and Terry Labonte in 1999 are iconic moments in the sport’s history. Rather than being loathed for being aggressive, he was the most popular driver in the sport and represented the blue collar attitude that fans love.

n the aftermath of Earnhardt’s death, there seems to have been a void left behind that drivers like Hamlin and Ross Chastain have been trying to fill. Hamlin doesn’t have an alter ego as Gordon described, but it’s who he is. He’s fueled by creating a stir and doesn’t shy away from drilling in the fact that he beat your favorite driver. Joe Gibbs has allowed Hamlin and Kyle Busch before him to express themselves because it’s the same type of grit and intensity that his Redskins teams personified. It’s the type of mindset needed to succeed in a 36 race grind and keep the sport relevant. Hamlin’s influence has been shown at 23XI Racing and has served as a mentor to Bubba Wallace. Wallace is similar to Hamlin because he’s driven by the feedback of others and just wants to prove his detractors wrong. This is why a significant portion of the younger audience feels connected to Bubba in the last few years. There’s a connection with those who stand up against the status quo and race with a flare in their game.

Is there any wonder that among the drivers with the most social media post interactions last year include Kyle Busch and Joey Logano who are both down for being aggressive and having an edge to their style. On top of this, Hamlin and Kevin Harvick are at are near the top five in most X followers. In this age of the fast opinion of social media, it’s important that younger drivers express their minds and create controversy with their opinions and performance.

Take for example Ross Chastain who was responsible for the most popular moment of the season last season when he pulled off the “Hail Melon” at Martinsville. Although controversial, it gave non NASCAR fans something to talk about and explore what the sport was all about. Earlier this season, Chastain continued to have show off this confidence and was driving like a man not to be reckoned with, looking like a Championship Four driver. It seems like things changed after the Darlington Spring race where he was told to tame things down (by Rick Hendrick among them, notice a trend) after a crash with Kyle Larson. Although I do agree that Chastain went overboard and has a tendency to push things over the edge, it’s like he lost a bit of his personality after that and his subsequent performance suffered where instead of competing at Phoenix he’s out of playoff contention.

Hamlin and Chastain are the epitome of what the sport needs to embrace again to get back to where it was popularity wise. People connect more to who the drivers are and how they connect with them rather than what tracks they race at. By commenting on Hamlin’s antics, Gordon played into Hamlin’s hands because now there is controversy that could go all the way to Phoenix where a showdown with Kyle Larson and William Byron could be waiting. If anything, the sport benefits because of it.