NASCAR: Hamlin Sent to Sensitivity Training After 'Larson' Tweet

NASCAR officials announced Tuesday that Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin must complete a sensitivity training course.

A NASCAR spokesperson sent the update Tuesday afternoon, saying the process must begin by the end of this week.

#11: Denny Hamlin. Why was he not suspended by NASCAR like Larson was for making a off-color racial remark? Is there a double standard in NASCAR whereby their ‘pet’ drivers get handled with kid gloves? LAT photo for Toyota

The mandated course comes in response to a social-media post that Hamlin sent Monday afternoon. Hamlin’s post was directed toward Kyle Larson, whose last-lap move in Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway collected the 23XI Racing entries of Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace. Hamlin is a co-owner of the 23XI operation.

Hamlin deleted the tweet later Monday and issued an apology.

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

Representatives from Toyota, which Hamlin holds an affiliation with as a team owner and a driver, issued a statement Tuesday, saying: “We have spoken with Denny Hamlin regarding his tweet from yesterday. Toyota supports NASCAR’s decision to mandate sensitivity training for Denny and we will all move forward together.”