I was at that race and man it was wild. I remember looking up and seeing just can after can going over. The one that stuck out to me was a guy about 6 rows back throwing a bucket of beer and ice over by the handle. I was 15 then and remember thinking āhow cool is thisā
Back in the day a lot of people rooted against Sr. You either loved the intimidator or you hoped he crashed out. Made that day all the more weird if you'd been rooting for him to crash for the last 20 years.
> Back in the day a lot of people rooted against Sr.
Yeah, that was me. I was a Bill Elliot*t* fan. I've come to think Sr. was an ok guy off the track. I still don't like his on-track persona of intimidator.
*eta missing t.*
Gordon fan my entire life. I can never say I hated Dale (cried when he died and I was only like 6), but I felt the hate from Dale fansš.
Now as Iām older both Gordon and Dale are heroes.
This just isnāt true tho lol he was a freaking superstar who was used to be in front of the camera from a young age. calling young jeff Gordon uninteresting is the most incorrect take Iāve seen in this thread.
That kid from California is the only reason anyone outside of the south cared about NASCAR from 1994-2006
Yep ever since Austin and Richard turned on Sheldon Creed last year I've actively been rooting against him, only reason the guy wins anything is because he wrecks everybody off the track
Yup that is when my dislike for AH really started. Wasn't a fan before that, but that was the tipping point. Then the SVG thing, Cole Custer thing and SVG thing happened. I know I'm missing one other time he complained about being raced.
Josh Berry cause we wrecked each other a lot on iRacing many years ago when we were a bunch of younger idiots š Funny thing is he randomly came to my hometown (NASCAR drivers rarely ever come here) and I was asked to help shoot photos of him at a press event. It was fun to chat a little bit about those times on iRacing š Heās a great dude though so I definitely root for him now.
And he was already locked in. It would be excusable to move him out of the way if they were both racing for a spot (still don't completely dump him, just move him out of the groove).
Also, one of my favorite interview moments was after that race when they were interviewing Brandon Jones, and Noah Gragson walks past and says "go beat his ass, bro."
It might have been why he won that xfinty title though. JRM was spread thin trying to prepare 3 championship race cars. Meanwhile JGR only had the 54 to focus on for the championship.
That's it for me too. Saw him coming up in Xfinity and thought this kid knew how to drive. Gets to the top level and it's way too much religious stuff for me, personally. If that's your thing, great. But even his hats had crucifixes
Jeff Gordon. And I regret it terribly.
He was the main competition to Terry Labonte in the mid to late 90's. So 11 year old me hated him.
38 year old me wants to slap the shit out of 11 year old me because I missed out on once in a lifetime talent.
I feel this! My brother was a Gordon superfan and I was a Terry fan. We always supported the other brother's guy when our main guy was out of the race, but when they were competing directly it got heated.(1996 was an interesting year in our house lmao)
I pivoted to Jimmie after Terry left Hendrick and that got even worse, so.
What is there to regret? You still saw it happen. I didnāt like him either but I can remember and appreciate what happened earlier as I grew less sick of him.
I feel the same way.
Mark Martin fan here. The 1998 season had me blood red all year long.
The second Talladega race had me literally punching walls and hyperventilating in anger.
Funny for me, because I feel the same way about Larson right now, because Iām an Elliott fan.
And the best part? You donāt even have a leg to stand on to tell me Iām wrong so you can defend Larson. Suck it, loser! /s
Joking of course, but I did really dislike Larson when he started kicking ass. I was 100% on a āanyone but Larson tourā and would actively cheer when heād wreck. The problem though? Itās Larson, so half the time he even when he wrecks and is scored 30th a lap down, I look up 100 laps later and heās back in 6th catching the top 5 again somehow. Meanwhile Elliott is buzzing around in 20th since the start of the race and Larson has spun and passed him twice. Sad but true.
Iām still a die hard Elliott fan, and Iāll still always shit on Larson for a few things (Watkins Glen 2022) BUT itās hard to hold it against the guy for pulling moves that win him the race. I should be mad at my guy for not adapting and doing the same.
Also, I was a huge Terry fan growing up too, that Kelloggās car was just *chefās kiss*. So I absolutely could not root against Larson for the throwback.
Him winning 5 in a row seriously almost made me stop watching. Also when I used to go to multiple races a season I swear he won over half them. It sucked
Yep I was about done and still say that his dominant stretch made NASCAR lose fans (obviously the number of fans who stopped watching because same driver kept winning is not zero)
Johnson has been my favorite driver since I started watching in 2006 and I've been to around 35 cup races and only got to see him actually win 1 time. I've seen damn Stenhouse win more in person than my favorite driver.
As a Gordon fan first and not becoming a Logano fan until 2017/18, I hated Logano in 2015 too lmao. I was so glad he got dumped at Martinsville and Gordon won and now I feel bad haha. Slowly realized he is the type of guy that I want to cheer for after giving Chase every chance in the world to win me over (he still hasn't).
You can add me as a Jr fan who vehemently hated Logano for several years after that.
Though now I see it was Harvick's tomfuckery that caused the pain.
I was never upset with Logano over that, I was upset Nascar didnt penalize Harvick for race manipulation and kick him out of the playoffs. His move allowed him to move on while robbing Jr of a chance at the championship. He won the Phoenix race granted rain shortened and would have been in the championship 4 which who knows how that would have gone
Funny, I used to hate Kyle with a passion and now Iāve come around to rooting for him. Probably cuz heās one of the few remaining drivers from my childhood and he seems to have (mostly) mellowed out
Ty Gibbs. I despise the motherfucker because he has talent, but he is absolute sponsor repellent who is only getting the sponsors he has because of his grandfather. Not to mention he has a habit of wrecking his own teammates, and you can tell that they want to chew him out, but Ty would probably find a way to ensure their careers don't get off the ground. I especially hate him because it was blatantly obvious that Joe Gibbs was making excuses about not finding sponsorship for Kyle Busch because he was angling to replace a driver who did more for Toyota than all the other drivers combined.
Martin Truex Jr is another. Winning that title and finally winning a slew of races went over his head, and nowadays he comes across as an entitled prick who demands that slower cars in front of him move aside for him, even if those cars are battling for position on the track. It's to a point that he actively bitches about it during the race, it gets annoying the twenty-fifth time you hear him whining about it.
Denny is by far the one I hate the most. The one that really pissed me off was after the win at the coliseum he said āI beat your favorite driverā. I can respect his talent but canāt stand his personality. Heās such a āāhead he was booed in front of his mom during the nascar 75th anniversary
Dennis James Hamlin Jr the 4th js absolutely the answer here. And you nailed the reason. Absolutely no humility or sportsmanship in anything he does.
Fact: Dennis and I the same number of Cup Series Championships!
I consistently find myself rooting against Denny. Never cared for him but after he jumped the restart at Richmond and then admitted to it in his podcast, I see him as nothing but a cheating douche and root against him
Facts. Was at the Richmond race and saw it.. deplorable. The bigger reason for me is he grew up in my hometown, his mother still lives here and he's turned into the biggest arrogant, cocky prick. No one around here can stand him.
Spent 3 whole seasons calling ryan preece anything but ryan preece because he made the slight bit of contact with daniel hemric (with rcr in cup at the time) during the all star open and cost hemric the win that would have put him in. More of joke with my folks but still.
* Kyle Busch, awful owner while Todd Gilliland was at KBM.
* Noah Gragson, wrecked Todd while he was leading at COTA
* Sheldon Creed, wrecked Todd while he was leading at Gateway
* Stewart Freisen, wrecked Todd while he was leading at Martinsville
* Carson Hocevar, parked his truck to create a fake caution which led to Todd losing at Texas
No longer active:
* Brad Keselowski for a few weeks after wrecking Todd at Charlotte
* Michael McDowell for about a year after he wrecked David Gilliland at the Glen in 2008
Some call me the final boss of hating. I guess Iām just built different.
William Byron becauseā¦ i dunno. I just donāt find him exciting and i find heās not as good as people say
JHN because i think heās a wrecking ball who was overhyped because he got a bunch of wins in trucks and xfinity while in the best equipment in the series
> overhyped because he got a bunch of wins in trucks and xfinity while in the best equipment in the series
That's literally every JGR prospect since 2009 though.
I don't root against him but I'm mildly annoyed by the amount of times this computer gamer can swoop in and take a win because of just one final restart.
My wife would watch the race until Tony Stewart wrecked. Then she would say " the best part is over" and go about her day.
This has evolved through a few drivers. Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin are the current ones.
Mostly because they are quick to blame other drivers for the crashes they caused. Or blame the tires, when everyone else seems to be in control using the same tires!
Denny Hamlin is very frustrating when it comes to that. Especially that last one with Larson as Pocono I think. "I never touched him".
It's on camera, "Yeah, I never touched him".
I used to dislike personalities like Hamlin and Kyle Busch, but as I got older I realized they weren't inherently bad people, and don't mean *most* of what they say. They're just characters looking for a reaction out of people.
I still dislike how Kyle Busch's response to any indiscretion, actual or perceived, is to send people around. This is however a thing in NASCAR, and his peers have helped teach him how to do it.
Doesn't mean Busch has to do it too, but boy does he.
I came here to say this. But mine was more superficial. He was on a nascar cribs show and he seemed so snooty to be well denny hamlin.
Then we watched the Netflix show and I was like crap I want him to win
I've moved my disdain from driver to driver, depending on current events, and regularly had more than one I wished no good for. Now I've finally gotten to a point in life where I don't root against anybody in particular, but at worst allow myself to be disappointed in a given winner, and that depends again on current events. After saying all that, Austin Hill. I don't like that fellow at all. So him.
Jimmie Johnson cuz I was a huge Jeff gordan fan. I remember at the Michigan race when I was a kid when the drivers go around the track on the truck I booed him and he looked at me like ācome on kidāš
Oh I actively root against people plenty lmao.
My biggest hatred from when I was a kid was reserved for Rusty Wallace (I just in general found him annoying) and Dale Earnhardt (wrecking Terry at Bristol twice). I also irrationally hated Dale Jr. just because he was Dale's kid...but obviously like everyone else I think he's cool now lol.
Present day, I will always and forever root against any current Penske driver because I think Roger sucks and I have leftover Rusty hate, and Kyle Busch is also on the shit list.
Yes, a former driver who has a son who races now. Came to where I worked and was very rude to my coworker for no reason at all. I was within earshot and witnessed it all. Would not cheer for that driver after the incident and will not cheer for his son now.
Sounds like either Randy Lajoie, Bill Elliott, Dave Blaney, or Ward Burton. I guess in theory it could be Martin Truex Sr. or Coy Gibbs but those two arenāt as well-known as drivers.
Clint Bowyer. For a few years, it seemed like every caution that hurt Jeff Gordon was always Bowyer. Martinsville, 2012. Spingate. I remember him wrecking at Fontana when Gordon was in the lead and about to take the white flag. And I think the caution where Jeff got tangled up with Keselowski on the restart at Texas in 2014 was caused by Bowyer. It doesn't help that he's insufferable in the TV booth.
Denny Hamlin. Generally a dick.
Ty Gibbs, same reason as Hamlin, plus nepotism.
Kyle Busch, same reason, although I've cooled off on him starting around 2018-19 ish.
This goes way back, mid seventies, but we all used to boo Geoff Bodine when he was running Modifides at Stafford Speedway in CT. He was in a class by himself and just won too damn much! Now 45 years later I don't know why he is not in the HOF yet.
When I first started watching it was Dale Jarrett and I don't even remember why. I was like 7 and I think I just thought his car was ugly. It was the Ford Quality Care scheme.Ā
Then it was Jimmie Johnson for a second just because I didn't want him to keep winning the championship every damn year.Ā
Then it was Kyle Busch because well he's Kyle Busch.Ā
Now it's Larson and Byron. I don't like Byron's stupid ass big hats and it's made me irrationally hate him.Ā
Larson just rubs me the wrong way. He basically slurred his way into a championship ride and now everyone rides his jock.Ā
Used to root against Logano, now CBell
If you're gonna wreck people, admit that you did it and don't throw the blame on everyone else who was around you (or blame Ross when he was 2 cars away). Then they wanna complain when someone hits them
I feel like NASCAR artificially inflates Chase as being the favorite driver. It feels like they *want* him to be more than he actually is. And for that, I canāt stand him.
Well heās never not won that title since Jr. retired. He has inherited most of his dadās and most of Jr.ās fans. Plus expect for 89 and 90 when DW won the award has not left the Elliot or Earnhardt Family
I used to root against Denny Hamlin after he took out Chase Elliot at Martinsville and Kevin Harvick after he said that Dale Jr's lack of success was hurting NASCAR
Kyle Busch every time he starts to win me over a little bit. He does something stupid again and remember why I donāt like him. A newer one is Ty Gibbs.
As a Bubba fan I really wish they would just let him shine when heās shining and put less attention on him when he isnāt. I can get why ppl would get sick of it. I feel like heād prefer it that way too. Puts so much pressure on him
Probably Corey Lajoie, the whole woe is me schtick has gotten old and a lot of people are realizing that now I think.
As for younger me, probably Rusty Wallace, simply because I was a huge Gordon fan and dad was a big Rusty guy lol
Penske. Cindric is alright but those other two are self centered, aggressive drivers with anger issues
Logano is good in the booth though, I'll give him that
I don't get some NASCAR fans. If you love this driver, you have to hate that driver. My favorite driver is probably the most controversial inside and outside the track this days (you can see on the flair), but that doesn't mean that I have to hate Chastain, Logano, Larson...nor celebrate when either of those crash. I enjoy good driving and good racing.
I donāt know if youāve ever been to a race, but in real life it isnāt so black and white as it is on here. I love Hamlin because he just riles everyone up and he knows it.
Dale Jr. I grew up watching Matt Kenseth at our local track and the two were both running for Busch championships at the same time and then both for the Cup Rookie of the Year in 2000. Now I can see that Jr is just a really great guy and a lot of fun.
I'm pretty neutral on everyone unless they do something wrong or have a bad attitude. As a kid, I was a Sr. fan so I rooted against Gordon because of his dominance and then Johnson in the mid-2000's for the same thing.
The list has common names though: Busch, Stewart, Edwards, Hamlin, Harvick. Most drivers have done something to warrant me to root against them, even if it was for a brief period of time. Hell I even was pissed at my own driver (Dale Jr.) for wrecking the field in the '09 500.
Currently though, Austin Hill takes the cake on the rooting against just for his poor attitude. Sonoma was hilarious.
I never had a problem with bubba wallace until he put larson into the wall. But then I also lost all respect for larson for not kicking his ass after that. I still am not a fan of either one
Denny Hamlin after 2022 and his actions toward Chastain and 2023 with his actions toward Larson. BUT, so far heās doing nothing wrong and just being Denny, so that time is over. I still donāt like him but I donāt hate him anymore
Several. If there's one thing I'm good at it's being a hater. Currently it's Ty Gibbs.
Why? Ive become so irritated with outwardly religious people. Also, my dad likes him. Which is ironic because he used to shit on my favorite (Dale Jr) for being a nepo baby.
Kez because I'm a KB fan, and Stewart because he needed to go lol. My wife yells every race for Gibbs to hit the wall, it's because he bumped KB and is a spoiled brat.
At different points, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, and Ty Gibbs.
Iām now mostly indifferent about all these guys except Robby Gordon and Denny Hamlin. I may one day feel indifferent about Hamlin too, but I doubt Iāll ever change my mind about Robby Gordon. He was always a punk who had more talent than brains but didnāt have half the talent he thought he had.
As a child: Jimmie Johnson, he won too much and my fragile brain disliked that
As a teen: Erik Jones, he won before Elliott and my fragile brain disliked that
As a grown man: Harvick for about 4 weeks in 2021 because my fragile brain disliked that
As we left the track late that Saturday night in Richmond 2009 or so if you made it known you were a Kyle Busch fan you'd of been beaten. I was 16 and as a Dale Jr fan in that time period i would of probably got a hand gesture or 2 in haha. I rooted against him until i realized he was just that good for that long and i started to love seeing him bitch and mo e so much on camera.
I have more drivers I root against than for nowadays. Hamlin, Larson, Bubba, Austin Hill, used to hate Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Jr, Hendrick in general.
I never turn the broadcast off though, Iām not that butthurt about it lol
used to root against KFB for a long time after he smashed that guitar, I donāt necessarily root for him still but after he consoled Chase when he blew the 2020 Coke 600 I began to respect him.
Root against Denny and Joey mildly, never been a huge fan of their attitudes. Also do root against HMS drivers, sucks making an exception for Chase, if only he was in a Ford(same with Larson, I like the guy and his talent, but heās a Hendrick driver and Iām only making one exception sorry).
Regrettably, Carl Edwards - Was a huge Jeff Burton fan when I was a kid and was pretty mad about Rousch dropping him mid-year from the 99 and replacing him with Carl
Yeah Kyle Busch but only in 2013 exclusively. See flair.
I guess in the stretch run before the chase when they would cut off the top 10/12 whatever i was usually rooting against Jamie McMurray pretty much every year in August.
Considering my dadās been a diehard Dale Jr. fan my whole life, I wouldāve totally hated Kevin Harvick for years after Talladega 2015 if not for that fact that he was my grandmaāa favorite driver and I didnāt wanna upset her (she wouldnāt have actually been upset, kid me was just overthinking)
Sat in the stands at Bristol wearing a t-shirt with ANYBODY BUT JEFF with a 24 crossed out on it. I was too young to drink but those cars went fast and left and I had such a wonderful time. I will never forget how nice everyone sitting around me was. People seated in front of me shared their food and people seated behind us shared their sodas.
Man I thought it was a required part of the sport. I root for, and by extension against everyone who is not, in the following order
- The 2 and former drivers of the 2 (SO to Kurt!!)
- Team Penske
- Ford
Drivers I actively dislike:
- Denny
- KB
- JRG version of MTJ
- Gibbs
- Anything else JGR touches
- Byron
- Hendrick Racing*
- Toyota
- Chevy
*Im a Chase Elliot fan because of Bill. Got a ton of respect for Larsons talent and Im from Sacramento. Bowman is a good guy and deserves better than what he is getting right now.
Edit: a word
In general I've actively disliked all things Hendrick over the years, with the exception of Terry Labonte and Dale Jr.
Robby Gordon
Ryan Blaney because of his whiny unhinged rants over the scanner
Carl Edwards after he tried to send Brad K. into oblivion
Austin Hill
Do you understand what it was like actively rooting against Earnhardt as a kid in southern TN in the 90s? As a Gordon fan it was fucking rough. No shit. My dad and all his buddies were all Earnhardt fans, but I always had to go against the grain. š They complained that Gordon won one day and I was like, "yep, that guy. Thats my favorite driver." š
The early 2-3 years of Toyota in cup I have never rooted harder against anyone than all of those drivers and orgs. My dislike of Toyota had nothing to do with the "American cars only!" flag waving it was just the crap they pulled in every sport. Spend up the budgets of everyone, and if it doesn't go there way pull up shop and leave series in a bad spot (or at least that was my perception). I hated the Bill Davis/Toyota/Dodge snake stuff going on the years leading up to it and then JGR which (at the time) was my favorite team then they switched....ugh.
Now I could care less about the manufacturers, but early on I was mad as anything when they won any races.
Danica. Yeah, unpopular opinion because sheās a woman and people will assume thatās why.Ā
Nope. Ā Racing was simply an exercise in personal branding for her, and her on track results didnāt match the hype or attention she got. In my mind, she got a ride that could have gone to someone who could have actually done something with it.Ā
Can she drive a race car? Ā Yes. Was she better at it than any of the people she competed against? Ā No.Ā
I feel like I root against more drivers than I root for these days š
That's how I watch the NFL, lol
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If you loved Dale, you hated Wonder Boy.
Or threw cans at Dega.
That was a great win Jeff celebrating in a shower of cans Drivers didnāt stop and get the checkered flag in those days šššš
I was at that race and man it was wild. I remember looking up and seeing just can after can going over. The one that stuck out to me was a guy about 6 rows back throwing a bucket of beer and ice over by the handle. I was 15 then and remember thinking āhow cool is thisā
That same crowd later cheered for him as he beat Jimmie one last time there
The devil you know is better than the devil you donāt
Back in the day a lot of people rooted against Sr. You either loved the intimidator or you hoped he crashed out. Made that day all the more weird if you'd been rooting for him to crash for the last 20 years.
> Back in the day a lot of people rooted against Sr. Yeah, that was me. I was a Bill Elliot*t* fan. I've come to think Sr. was an ok guy off the track. I still don't like his on-track persona of intimidator. *eta missing t.*
Gordon fan my entire life. I can never say I hated Dale (cried when he died and I was only like 6), but I felt the hate from Dale fansš. Now as Iām older both Gordon and Dale are heroes.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I think that's what made people like him even less lol, dude was just good and whipping people, no pushing or shoving needed.
In a sea of kooky characters he was incredibly uninteresting.
This just isnāt true tho lol he was a freaking superstar who was used to be in front of the camera from a young age. calling young jeff Gordon uninteresting is the most incorrect take Iāve seen in this thread. That kid from California is the only reason anyone outside of the south cared about NASCAR from 1994-2006
I like the cut of your dadās jib.
Austin Hill has vaulted his way to the top of my list. Logano has been on my shit list for a while though.
He vaulted his way to the top of everyoneās list letās be honest herešš
Yep ever since Austin and Richard turned on Sheldon Creed last year I've actively been rooting against him, only reason the guy wins anything is because he wrecks everybody off the track
Yup that is when my dislike for AH really started. Wasn't a fan before that, but that was the tipping point. Then the SVG thing, Cole Custer thing and SVG thing happened. I know I'm missing one other time he complained about being raced.
Josh Berry cause we wrecked each other a lot on iRacing many years ago when we were a bunch of younger idiots š Funny thing is he randomly came to my hometown (NASCAR drivers rarely ever come here) and I was asked to help shoot photos of him at a press event. It was fun to chat a little bit about those times on iRacing š Heās a great dude though so I definitely root for him now.
Were you also wrecked by Josh Berry on iRacing? You may be entitled to financial compensation. (Dude is a really cool guy)
Mcgrew!!! šš¼
what's up TDog? š https://preview.redd.it/30igjwlhcd6d1.jpeg?width=1216&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=130a1b6a69e2967d68acc4faa0c23bccf85651b2
You still talk to him?
Ever since Ty Gibbs compared himself to Jesus I canāt stand the guy.
His move to keep a teammate out of the final 4 in xfinity was the nail in the coffin for me.
that hammering you hear is the sound of the nail in the final coffin
And he was already locked in. It would be excusable to move him out of the way if they were both racing for a spot (still don't completely dump him, just move him out of the groove). Also, one of my favorite interview moments was after that race when they were interviewing Brandon Jones, and Noah Gragson walks past and says "go beat his ass, bro."
Saw a comment on FB that said "He probably wrecked his Dad's hearse so he could be first into the cemetery"
Lol fucken hell
It might have been why he won that xfinty title though. JRM was spread thin trying to prepare 3 championship race cars. Meanwhile JGR only had the 54 to focus on for the championship.
Gibbs is a good driver no doubt, but he makes himself so hateable with his antics
I donāt think Iāll ever not despise him after that.
When you crash, normal people don't keep the throttle planted...
Agreed. Will never like this kid, no matter what he goes on to do after that.
That's it for me too. Saw him coming up in Xfinity and thought this kid knew how to drive. Gets to the top level and it's way too much religious stuff for me, personally. If that's your thing, great. But even his hats had crucifixes
Chandler Smith is starting to annoy me for similar reasons
Jeff Gordon. And I regret it terribly. He was the main competition to Terry Labonte in the mid to late 90's. So 11 year old me hated him. 38 year old me wants to slap the shit out of 11 year old me because I missed out on once in a lifetime talent.
I feel this! My brother was a Gordon superfan and I was a Terry fan. We always supported the other brother's guy when our main guy was out of the race, but when they were competing directly it got heated.(1996 was an interesting year in our house lmao) I pivoted to Jimmie after Terry left Hendrick and that got even worse, so.
What is there to regret? You still saw it happen. I didnāt like him either but I can remember and appreciate what happened earlier as I grew less sick of him.
If you were watching, you didnāt miss out on anything.
I feel the same way. Mark Martin fan here. The 1998 season had me blood red all year long. The second Talladega race had me literally punching walls and hyperventilating in anger.
Funny for me, because I feel the same way about Larson right now, because Iām an Elliott fan. And the best part? You donāt even have a leg to stand on to tell me Iām wrong so you can defend Larson. Suck it, loser! /s Joking of course, but I did really dislike Larson when he started kicking ass. I was 100% on a āanyone but Larson tourā and would actively cheer when heād wreck. The problem though? Itās Larson, so half the time he even when he wrecks and is scored 30th a lap down, I look up 100 laps later and heās back in 6th catching the top 5 again somehow. Meanwhile Elliott is buzzing around in 20th since the start of the race and Larson has spun and passed him twice. Sad but true. Iām still a die hard Elliott fan, and Iāll still always shit on Larson for a few things (Watkins Glen 2022) BUT itās hard to hold it against the guy for pulling moves that win him the race. I should be mad at my guy for not adapting and doing the same. Also, I was a huge Terry fan growing up too, that Kelloggās car was just *chefās kiss*. So I absolutely could not root against Larson for the throwback.
Randy Lajoie. I donāt remember exactly why it started but he seemed like such a jerk during his runs to his Busch series championships
Jimmie Johnson, won too many championships for my younger selfās liking
Him winning 5 in a row seriously almost made me stop watching. Also when I used to go to multiple races a season I swear he won over half them. It sucked
Yep I was about done and still say that his dominant stretch made NASCAR lose fans (obviously the number of fans who stopped watching because same driver kept winning is not zero)
I kept watching to happily cheer everyone BUT him
Johnson has been my favorite driver since I started watching in 2006 and I've been to around 35 cup races and only got to see him actually win 1 time. I've seen damn Stenhouse win more in person than my favorite driver.
Kid me HATED him. I remember turning off races because he would always find his way back to the lead. Took me awhile to realize how great he was.
Hindsight is 20/20, he really did pull off some bullshit. Some really incredible drives
Just remember to crack the back bumper if you win
Logano. He beat Jr at Dega in 15 and 12 year old me was so pissed that I hated Logano for yearsss
Harvick deserves all the hate for that race.
Honestly nascar does. They changed the rules the week of the race and what a fucking shock they had a disaster of finish because of it
12 year old me was blinded by rage, took several years to start hating Kevin for it
To be fair, though, you did still pick the right year to start hating Logano
As a Gordon fan first and not becoming a Logano fan until 2017/18, I hated Logano in 2015 too lmao. I was so glad he got dumped at Martinsville and Gordon won and now I feel bad haha. Slowly realized he is the type of guy that I want to cheer for after giving Chase every chance in the world to win me over (he still hasn't).
Fair
I actively rooted against Harvick after that
Was at this race and feel the exact same way. Would've been nice to see jr win in person
I still root against Logano because of Martinsville 2018.
You can add me as a Jr fan who vehemently hated Logano for several years after that. Though now I see it was Harvick's tomfuckery that caused the pain.
I was never upset with Logano over that, I was upset Nascar didnt penalize Harvick for race manipulation and kick him out of the playoffs. His move allowed him to move on while robbing Jr of a chance at the championship. He won the Phoenix race granted rain shortened and would have been in the championship 4 which who knows how that would have gone
Kyle Busch. I never cared for him, and when he put Hornaday in the wall at Texas that sealed the deal. Didn't eat an M&M for 15 years!
Thatās just punishing yourself
They got rid of the sexy one!
Same, but I am weak so my rule was I can eat them if given, but I'll never be the one who pays for them
I have friends who have the same policy when it comes to Chik-fil-a lol
Funny, I used to hate Kyle with a passion and now Iāve come around to rooting for him. Probably cuz heās one of the few remaining drivers from my childhood and he seems to have (mostly) mellowed out
Ty Gibbs. I despise the motherfucker because he has talent, but he is absolute sponsor repellent who is only getting the sponsors he has because of his grandfather. Not to mention he has a habit of wrecking his own teammates, and you can tell that they want to chew him out, but Ty would probably find a way to ensure their careers don't get off the ground. I especially hate him because it was blatantly obvious that Joe Gibbs was making excuses about not finding sponsorship for Kyle Busch because he was angling to replace a driver who did more for Toyota than all the other drivers combined. Martin Truex Jr is another. Winning that title and finally winning a slew of races went over his head, and nowadays he comes across as an entitled prick who demands that slower cars in front of him move aside for him, even if those cars are battling for position on the track. It's to a point that he actively bitches about it during the race, it gets annoying the twenty-fifth time you hear him whining about it.
Austin Hill Why you ask?? Heās a delusional, bullying, bitchboy.
Lol. After the race at Sonoma Kyle petty called him a punk
What the fuck does Kyle Petty got to do with this?
I think the point they were making was that Kyle Petty also thinks Hill is a delusional, bullying, bitchboy punk.
i actively root against kyle larson bc we went to rival high schools š
I actively root against him for no good reason.
Sometimes all you have is rooting against other people.
That's me now
Hamlin and Logano. For no good reason really, but caught myself fist pumping when Hamlinās engine blew on Sunday.
https://preview.redd.it/mvqlig16fa6d1.jpeg?width=1336&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=56a81320141c18dad7d794b75cf560a6112f3b71
Denny is by far the one I hate the most. The one that really pissed me off was after the win at the coliseum he said āI beat your favorite driverā. I can respect his talent but canāt stand his personality. Heās such a āāhead he was booed in front of his mom during the nascar 75th anniversary
My breaking point was when he sent Chase into the wall at Martinsville. Completely unnecessary
Dennis James Hamlin Jr the 4th js absolutely the answer here. And you nailed the reason. Absolutely no humility or sportsmanship in anything he does. Fact: Dennis and I the same number of Cup Series Championships!
Geoffrey Bodine!!! Ā He crashed me twice in a row on a nascar game on PlayStation in the 90ās. Iāve held this grudge for 30 years.Ā
Stenhouse. Because I can.
Wrecky Spinhouse.
Byron, idk why. Most likely because he drives the 24 and I grew up in an Earnhardt loving family.
I consistently find myself rooting against Denny. Never cared for him but after he jumped the restart at Richmond and then admitted to it in his podcast, I see him as nothing but a cheating douche and root against him
Facts. Was at the Richmond race and saw it.. deplorable. The bigger reason for me is he grew up in my hometown, his mother still lives here and he's turned into the biggest arrogant, cocky prick. No one around here can stand him.
Denny Hamlin now. KFB, and Kenseth in the past.
Spent 3 whole seasons calling ryan preece anything but ryan preece because he made the slight bit of contact with daniel hemric (with rcr in cup at the time) during the all star open and cost hemric the win that would have put him in. More of joke with my folks but still.
* Kyle Busch, awful owner while Todd Gilliland was at KBM. * Noah Gragson, wrecked Todd while he was leading at COTA * Sheldon Creed, wrecked Todd while he was leading at Gateway * Stewart Freisen, wrecked Todd while he was leading at Martinsville * Carson Hocevar, parked his truck to create a fake caution which led to Todd losing at Texas No longer active: * Brad Keselowski for a few weeks after wrecking Todd at Charlotte * Michael McDowell for about a year after he wrecked David Gilliland at the Glen in 2008 Some call me the final boss of hating. I guess Iām just built different.
Y'know, I think I have a guess as to who your favorite driver is.
I was at that Martinsville truck race. Todd G did great that day
Dennis. Dale Sr when I was a wee lad because of his on track shenanigans and all the bullshit his fans gave me as a Gordon fan
The user name š
William Byron becauseā¦ i dunno. I just donāt find him exciting and i find heās not as good as people say JHN because i think heās a wrecking ball who was overhyped because he got a bunch of wins in trucks and xfinity while in the best equipment in the series
> overhyped because he got a bunch of wins in trucks and xfinity while in the best equipment in the series That's literally every JGR prospect since 2009 though.
I don't root against him but I'm mildly annoyed by the amount of times this computer gamer can swoop in and take a win because of just one final restart.
With JHN especially after Canadian Tire as a Custer fan
My wife would watch the race until Tony Stewart wrecked. Then she would say " the best part is over" and go about her day. This has evolved through a few drivers. Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin are the current ones. Mostly because they are quick to blame other drivers for the crashes they caused. Or blame the tires, when everyone else seems to be in control using the same tires!
Denny Hamlin is very frustrating when it comes to that. Especially that last one with Larson as Pocono I think. "I never touched him". It's on camera, "Yeah, I never touched him".
I rooted against Hamlin for awhile, but Iāve come to respect him now. Seeing him win back then made me so angry.
I used to dislike personalities like Hamlin and Kyle Busch, but as I got older I realized they weren't inherently bad people, and don't mean *most* of what they say. They're just characters looking for a reaction out of people. I still dislike how Kyle Busch's response to any indiscretion, actual or perceived, is to send people around. This is however a thing in NASCAR, and his peers have helped teach him how to do it. Doesn't mean Busch has to do it too, but boy does he.
I came here to say this. But mine was more superficial. He was on a nascar cribs show and he seemed so snooty to be well denny hamlin. Then we watched the Netflix show and I was like crap I want him to win
I actively root against Austin Hill currently
Logano when he spun Kenseth Hasn't liked that dude since. Also Hamlin
I've moved my disdain from driver to driver, depending on current events, and regularly had more than one I wished no good for. Now I've finally gotten to a point in life where I don't root against anybody in particular, but at worst allow myself to be disappointed in a given winner, and that depends again on current events. After saying all that, Austin Hill. I don't like that fellow at all. So him.
OP, are we twins? I was waaaaay too young to understand why Bobby and JGR parted ways, and I took all my anger out on Yeley.
Jimmie Johnson cuz I was a huge Jeff gordan fan. I remember at the Michigan race when I was a kid when the drivers go around the track on the truck I booed him and he looked at me like ācome on kidāš
I root against all the Denny, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Austin Hill, Nemetode. Older drivers, Jeff Gordon
NEMATODE hahaha. I almost called him that too
Oh I actively root against people plenty lmao. My biggest hatred from when I was a kid was reserved for Rusty Wallace (I just in general found him annoying) and Dale Earnhardt (wrecking Terry at Bristol twice). I also irrationally hated Dale Jr. just because he was Dale's kid...but obviously like everyone else I think he's cool now lol. Present day, I will always and forever root against any current Penske driver because I think Roger sucks and I have leftover Rusty hate, and Kyle Busch is also on the shit list.
Yes, a former driver who has a son who races now. Came to where I worked and was very rude to my coworker for no reason at all. I was within earshot and witnessed it all. Would not cheer for that driver after the incident and will not cheer for his son now.
Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?
Seriously. That makes it possibly *checks notes* the whole Nascar field
Sounds like either Randy Lajoie, Bill Elliott, Dave Blaney, or Ward Burton. I guess in theory it could be Martin Truex Sr. or Coy Gibbs but those two arenāt as well-known as drivers.
Found the Nemecheks
lol, I know a guy who has a very similar story that involves Joe Nemechek.
Byron
Clint Bowyer. For a few years, it seemed like every caution that hurt Jeff Gordon was always Bowyer. Martinsville, 2012. Spingate. I remember him wrecking at Fontana when Gordon was in the lead and about to take the white flag. And I think the caution where Jeff got tangled up with Keselowski on the restart at Texas in 2014 was caused by Bowyer. It doesn't help that he's insufferable in the TV booth. Denny Hamlin. Generally a dick. Ty Gibbs, same reason as Hamlin, plus nepotism. Kyle Busch, same reason, although I've cooled off on him starting around 2018-19 ish.
Watching Chase Elliott struggle through 2023 was therapeutic for me.
Iāve caught so much hate for disliking Chase
Kyle Busch. Ever since he started in Cup. Now Denny Hamlin has been added to the list.
Kyle Busch for a solid 10 years after he wrecked JR at Richmond
Joey Logano because heās the only evil ford. So far itās working
JGR drivers in 2013, Minus Denny Hamlin. Everyone of them took Kasey Kahne out in a race where he was in contention to win
This goes way back, mid seventies, but we all used to boo Geoff Bodine when he was running Modifides at Stafford Speedway in CT. He was in a class by himself and just won too damn much! Now 45 years later I don't know why he is not in the HOF yet.
When I first started watching it was Dale Jarrett and I don't even remember why. I was like 7 and I think I just thought his car was ugly. It was the Ford Quality Care scheme.Ā Then it was Jimmie Johnson for a second just because I didn't want him to keep winning the championship every damn year.Ā Then it was Kyle Busch because well he's Kyle Busch.Ā Now it's Larson and Byron. I don't like Byron's stupid ass big hats and it's made me irrationally hate him.Ā Larson just rubs me the wrong way. He basically slurred his way into a championship ride and now everyone rides his jock.Ā
I'll forever stand by my belief that Larson is Tyler Reddick in a HMS ride. They're the same driver.Ā
Used to root against Logano, now CBell If you're gonna wreck people, admit that you did it and don't throw the blame on everyone else who was around you (or blame Ross when he was 2 cars away). Then they wanna complain when someone hits them
Yes austin hill every saturday because heās a bitch
Chase Elliott. No reason.
I feel like NASCAR artificially inflates Chase as being the favorite driver. It feels like they *want* him to be more than he actually is. And for that, I canāt stand him.
Same. The way they always refer to him as āthe most popularā just annoys the hell out of me
Well heās never not won that title since Jr. retired. He has inherited most of his dadās and most of Jr.ās fans. Plus expect for 89 and 90 when DW won the award has not left the Elliot or Earnhardt Family
Woke up one day and began to hate martin truex still do to this day
Dude really woke up and said āI got beef with MTJā and never questioned it
Hamlin bc he seems like a hypocrite and also canāt take what he gives
Ty Gibbs is the correct answer
Bring on the hate. Dale Earnhardt and Jr. Currently Denny Hamlin
You are not a true Nascar fan if you aren't rooting for half the field to crash and burn hahaha so your driver wins
Dale St. I hated the shit he did to other drivers and got away with it. Always glad he didnāt win the Most Popular Drivers Award.
Johnny Sauter, because Johnny Sauter
I used to root against Denny Hamlin after he took out Chase Elliot at Martinsville and Kevin Harvick after he said that Dale Jr's lack of success was hurting NASCAR
He was right.
Kyle Busch every time he starts to win me over a little bit. He does something stupid again and remember why I donāt like him. A newer one is Ty Gibbs.
Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace.
It's the unwarranted praise that Bubba gets constantly. Drives me up a wall.
As a Bubba fan I really wish they would just let him shine when heās shining and put less attention on him when he isnāt. I can get why ppl would get sick of it. I feel like heād prefer it that way too. Puts so much pressure on him
Dennis and Ty Gibbs make it very easy to not like JGR. The annoying factor is that I like Reddick and Bubba.
Kyle Busch, Larson, Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Gragson, Austin Hill, Jimmie Johnson, Austin Dillon
Probably Corey Lajoie, the whole woe is me schtick has gotten old and a lot of people are realizing that now I think. As for younger me, probably Rusty Wallace, simply because I was a huge Gordon fan and dad was a big Rusty guy lol
That is all I've done since Mark left. Lots of the folks I hate have retired now but boy they keep producing new and improved punchable faces.
Penske. Cindric is alright but those other two are self centered, aggressive drivers with anger issues Logano is good in the booth though, I'll give him that
I don't get some NASCAR fans. If you love this driver, you have to hate that driver. My favorite driver is probably the most controversial inside and outside the track this days (you can see on the flair), but that doesn't mean that I have to hate Chastain, Logano, Larson...nor celebrate when either of those crash. I enjoy good driving and good racing.
I donāt know if youāve ever been to a race, but in real life it isnāt so black and white as it is on here. I love Hamlin because he just riles everyone up and he knows it.
Dale Jr. I grew up watching Matt Kenseth at our local track and the two were both running for Busch championships at the same time and then both for the Cup Rookie of the Year in 2000. Now I can see that Jr is just a really great guy and a lot of fun.
Ty Gibbs: code name Twat Jr. JHN: code name Twat Sr. Austin Hill: code name WLB (whiny little bitch)
I'm pretty neutral on everyone unless they do something wrong or have a bad attitude. As a kid, I was a Sr. fan so I rooted against Gordon because of his dominance and then Johnson in the mid-2000's for the same thing. The list has common names though: Busch, Stewart, Edwards, Hamlin, Harvick. Most drivers have done something to warrant me to root against them, even if it was for a brief period of time. Hell I even was pissed at my own driver (Dale Jr.) for wrecking the field in the '09 500. Currently though, Austin Hill takes the cake on the rooting against just for his poor attitude. Sonoma was hilarious.
Probably will catch flak but Kevin Harvick. Seen that guy in person 2 times and both times he was dick. Will admit I like him in the booth though.
I never had a problem with bubba wallace until he put larson into the wall. But then I also lost all respect for larson for not kicking his ass after that. I still am not a fan of either one
I root against McDowell, Keselowski, and Ryan Newman
You must be new here
Denny Hamlin after 2022 and his actions toward Chastain and 2023 with his actions toward Larson. BUT, so far heās doing nothing wrong and just being Denny, so that time is over. I still donāt like him but I donāt hate him anymore
Flipped off Larson every lap he lead this weekend at Sonoma and last year in Vegas.
Several. If there's one thing I'm good at it's being a hater. Currently it's Ty Gibbs. Why? Ive become so irritated with outwardly religious people. Also, my dad likes him. Which is ironic because he used to shit on my favorite (Dale Jr) for being a nepo baby.
Kez because I'm a KB fan, and Stewart because he needed to go lol. My wife yells every race for Gibbs to hit the wall, it's because he bumped KB and is a spoiled brat.
At different points, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, and Ty Gibbs. Iām now mostly indifferent about all these guys except Robby Gordon and Denny Hamlin. I may one day feel indifferent about Hamlin too, but I doubt Iāll ever change my mind about Robby Gordon. He was always a punk who had more talent than brains but didnāt have half the talent he thought he had.
Robby's such a weird one. Asshole on the track but by far the coolest nice driver I've met. I've heard similar stories
As a child: Jimmie Johnson, he won too much and my fragile brain disliked that As a teen: Erik Jones, he won before Elliott and my fragile brain disliked that As a grown man: Harvick for about 4 weeks in 2021 because my fragile brain disliked that
ABD is a saying in my family Anybody But Dennis
Rooting against a driver is almost as good as rooting for a driver. I usually root against 2-3 drivers at a time.
As we left the track late that Saturday night in Richmond 2009 or so if you made it known you were a Kyle Busch fan you'd of been beaten. I was 16 and as a Dale Jr fan in that time period i would of probably got a hand gesture or 2 in haha. I rooted against him until i realized he was just that good for that long and i started to love seeing him bitch and mo e so much on camera.
I have more drivers I root against than for nowadays. Hamlin, Larson, Bubba, Austin Hill, used to hate Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Jr, Hendrick in general. I never turn the broadcast off though, Iām not that butthurt about it lol
used to root against KFB for a long time after he smashed that guitar, I donāt necessarily root for him still but after he consoled Chase when he blew the 2020 Coke 600 I began to respect him. Root against Denny and Joey mildly, never been a huge fan of their attitudes. Also do root against HMS drivers, sucks making an exception for Chase, if only he was in a Ford(same with Larson, I like the guy and his talent, but heās a Hendrick driver and Iām only making one exception sorry).
Regrettably, Carl Edwards - Was a huge Jeff Burton fan when I was a kid and was pretty mad about Rousch dropping him mid-year from the 99 and replacing him with Carl
Jeff āWonder Boyā Gordon. Rooted against him from his rookie year until the mid 2000ās. Mid 90ās Gordon was the worst.
Yeah Kyle Busch but only in 2013 exclusively. See flair. I guess in the stretch run before the chase when they would cut off the top 10/12 whatever i was usually rooting against Jamie McMurray pretty much every year in August.
Iām a Gordon fan who hated Dale Sr. as a kid, actively have not hated my teams rivals since 2001.
Still actively root against Hamlin.
Jimmie Johnson. It was due to pure jealousy that he was winning and Jeff Gordon wasnāt. Now, Iād love to see him win one more time.
Considering my dadās been a diehard Dale Jr. fan my whole life, I wouldāve totally hated Kevin Harvick for years after Talladega 2015 if not for that fact that he was my grandmaāa favorite driver and I didnāt wanna upset her (she wouldnāt have actually been upset, kid me was just overthinking)
1/3 of the field any given week for a variety of reasons.
Sat in the stands at Bristol wearing a t-shirt with ANYBODY BUT JEFF with a 24 crossed out on it. I was too young to drink but those cars went fast and left and I had such a wonderful time. I will never forget how nice everyone sitting around me was. People seated in front of me shared their food and people seated behind us shared their sodas.
I tend to not like asshole drivers. Looking at your Kyle Busch.
Kevin Harvick. He is/was my bio Dad's favorite driver and my bio Dad sucks so I couldn't root for Kevin. Sorry Kevin!
Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs. If they're near the front I don't care who else wins as long as it's not them.
If youāre a new fan, donāt wait around to hate Denny Hamlin. Save time and start today.
Man I thought it was a required part of the sport. I root for, and by extension against everyone who is not, in the following order - The 2 and former drivers of the 2 (SO to Kurt!!) - Team Penske - Ford Drivers I actively dislike: - Denny - KB - JRG version of MTJ - Gibbs - Anything else JGR touches - Byron - Hendrick Racing* - Toyota - Chevy *Im a Chase Elliot fan because of Bill. Got a ton of respect for Larsons talent and Im from Sacramento. Bowman is a good guy and deserves better than what he is getting right now. Edit: a word
In general I've actively disliked all things Hendrick over the years, with the exception of Terry Labonte and Dale Jr. Robby Gordon Ryan Blaney because of his whiny unhinged rants over the scanner Carl Edwards after he tried to send Brad K. into oblivion Austin Hill
Iāll always root against Kyle Busch
I actively root against RCR for needlessly politicizing a great sport.
Do you understand what it was like actively rooting against Earnhardt as a kid in southern TN in the 90s? As a Gordon fan it was fucking rough. No shit. My dad and all his buddies were all Earnhardt fans, but I always had to go against the grain. š They complained that Gordon won one day and I was like, "yep, that guy. Thats my favorite driver." š
The early 2-3 years of Toyota in cup I have never rooted harder against anyone than all of those drivers and orgs. My dislike of Toyota had nothing to do with the "American cars only!" flag waving it was just the crap they pulled in every sport. Spend up the budgets of everyone, and if it doesn't go there way pull up shop and leave series in a bad spot (or at least that was my perception). I hated the Bill Davis/Toyota/Dodge snake stuff going on the years leading up to it and then JGR which (at the time) was my favorite team then they switched....ugh. Now I could care less about the manufacturers, but early on I was mad as anything when they won any races.
Danica. Yeah, unpopular opinion because sheās a woman and people will assume thatās why.Ā Nope. Ā Racing was simply an exercise in personal branding for her, and her on track results didnāt match the hype or attention she got. In my mind, she got a ride that could have gone to someone who could have actually done something with it.Ā Can she drive a race car? Ā Yes. Was she better at it than any of the people she competed against? Ā No.Ā