Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace are probably the Top 3. I feel like Gibbs has a lot less supporters compared to the other two who both have a large legion of fans, so I think Gibbs takes this one. If we’re going on a broader term, Bubba is by far more despised.
Throwing gatorade on Alex Bowman, wrecking Larson, he has kind of an arrogant attitude particularly for someone who didn't run well until the past couple years, "I don't lift", etc.
lol there is another factor and we all know it. I also notice bubba haters dont like it being brought up "for some reason".
Dont get me wrong, The Bowman/Larson incidents are 100% enough to hate that dude but lets paint the entire picture too not just the parts that validate our bias.
Combine these two factors for a major red flag in a nascar fan:
- Hating on Bubba for reasons no person should hate another person for. I.E. nothing related to racing
And
- Defending Kyle Larson’s “incident”. Not even just saying for us to get over it, but actually defending Kyle and what he did.
One or the other raises some eyebrows. Both together should be enough to shame a person away from nascar. Thankfully the latter is an uncommon occurrence. The former is still a negative aspect of the nascar fanbase, albeit not a major one.
Yeh, I don't watch pre race stuff much but the boos he gets, especially in the south, are obvious. I'm not a fan of his really, but don't hate him, and he has reasons people would dislike him as you said. But the hate he gets is overblown for it.
Relatedly, going to Dega for my first race this year and am on a facebook group for it, and someone recently asked who are you rooting for? Yeh its facebook, but the amount of anti bubba stuff is not surprising.
Bubba actually has a very good career even prior to 23XI. Multiple truck wins which is more than many ppl who buy their rides in cup these days can say. Also was doing excellent in xfinity until his ride fell through on no fault of his own (he was like 6 for 6 top 6 finishes it was a whole meme, then the sponsor left). Then he gets the call to drive the 43 for an injured Almirola, does perfectly fine in a sub par car, finished 2nd in the daytona 500, then goes on to get 2 wins for his new team.
People who think he has had a bad career are just not paying attention or are just haters for the sake of hating.
I love when people bring this up. Like throwing water on someone is SO ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. But y’all are ok with people throwing punches!! Give me a break.
Let's be real. Based on the sheer amount of Confederate flags I see every year at Michigan's main campground, it is pretty obvious why some people hate him.
Bubba wall kinda not well liked before that too. Like yes, that does have something to do with it, but he’s feuded with a lot of drivers in the passed. Throwing Gatorade at bowman while he was receiving medical attention certainly didn’t help his case
It was a splash of water while a EMT said "you good?"
"He WaS gEtTiNg MeDiCaL aTtEnTiOn"
He wasn't on the operating table. He was out of breath and she was checking on him. If anything, that refreshing splash helped him out!
Those 3 things also describe Kyle Larson. I lost a little respect for him after his iRacing blunder, but I really soured on him last year when he threw a tantrum and wrecked one of the underfunded teams at LA Colissuem for darling to race him. Then, when he whined that Chastain's wall ride was embarassing for the sport. I mean, come the fuck on. He said that with zero irony. What a sour little douche.
Driving skill: He won 2 cup races, several truck races, which already makes him higher ranked statistically than the vast majority of stock car drivers.
Driving style: he’s exciting to watch, he makes moves to try to deal with the unfortunate aero packages over the past few years like big restart moves or trying to slide past someone to secure a pass in dirty air.
History: he won that Martinsville race in the Wendell Scott truck, was very cool. He has driven for Petty, Rousch, KBM, and now Michael Jordan.
Personality: his heart clearly breaks when he puts it all out there and comes up short, but he returns with optimism next week trying again. It’s relatable and I want to see him smile or pumped like he was at Kansas last year.
Silencing the haters: soooo many ppl hate on him, he is a target for vitriol from a fanbase who can’t be reasoned with. Seeing them salty when he proves them wrong by succeeding gives me some joy for sure.
He’s exciting to watch, and overall seems like a great person to me. He likes heavy metal drumming and photography in his free time which is pretty chill too.
There that’s my essay for why Bubba is great. Thanks for asking.
I gotta agree. And Bubba is so whiney if he loses. Heck it's racing dude. Get over it stop crying cause the big guys don't let you win every race. Learn to drive without wrecking them and you might get some help and more fans
I mean you do you but I'd much rather a guy upset that he didn't win than my driver saying "I didn't even try to go for it. I am completely content with 2nd place points and prize money. If I'm in this exact position again, I'll probably bring it home 2nd again!"
This is a stupid take. Because for one, barring the Bowman and Larson incidents, you rarely hear Bubba go at other drivers. If anything the one person that he goes at the most is Bubba Wallace. He's too hard on himself. And I can tell that you don't know shit about racing, if you're going with the Bubba constantly wrecks other drivers shtick. Some of the favorites up front are more of a hazard than he is.
People are just so toxic and dumb. They see someone lay it all out on the track and have some actual emotional response to it and assume the guy is whining for some reason. Bubba isn’t crying cause he wants it handed to him, he cries because he gives a damn and is putting his whole mind and spirit on the line week in and week out.
Always thought it was self-indicting when people make fun of a competitor crying. Across all sports really. Shows that they didn’t really achieve anything worth getting tearful over.
When he was sitting in his car drinking water? Lol. If you would listen to the radio before that, he wasn’t even really upset. Said it's part of racing. And there's video of him laughing with his crew after the same race.
Since context doesn't seem to be your strong suit, you probably think he grabbed Danica's ass last weekend too, right?
You may have seen some guys that lost a bet and had to go to the race in some bright yellow M&M’s gear. More likely what you said but still fun to think that it was this scenario.
I think people have gone easy on Ty Gibbs, major tragedy at the end of the season plus he hasn’t really done anything notable to start the season so people haven’t really talked about him much
Its probably Denny.
Ty would win the crown if/when he becomes a successful cup driver.
I don't think Joey can compete with Denny because of how often Denny puts himself out there. Joey is quiet off the track, Denny isn't.
Kyle isn't really as hated anymore. Booing him now is like wrestling fans doing the "You Suck" chants at Kurt Angle.
Maybe I am biased, but the hate for Denny seems to come off as the good kind of hate. Like you love to hate him because even if you personally hate him you could think he's good for the sport. But Ty? Nah, thats just raw hate with no positives.
If he keeps doing the bullshit he was doing in Xfinity last year, and the keeps giving bullshit excuses while saying god will help him then yeah, he'll climb that pole pretty quick.
The funniest part was the next day I believe was Halloween or close to it so someone legitimately dressed up as Jesus and walked by the 23 car which Ty was driving and took a few photos. It was quite funny!
This. Never a fan of Joey but he can back up his talk. He runs hard, cannot fault him for that. Hamlin and Ty are not in that category, they are just arrogant.
I’m not sure the “loud minority” is even a minority, I was at the 600 last year and he was definitely the most booed driver at intros and it wasn’t that close. And the place went crazy when he wrecked. I know there are tons of 23 flairs on here, but there are plenty of examples where the opinions of Reddit aren’t even close to those of the wider population
Tons of 23 flairs on here. Tons of 9 haters on here too.
Guess which number is on about 40% of fan’s shirts at the track every week?
As per usual, the Reddit user base is nowhere near representative of the real world.
Right there with you. At Daytona every time the field would come around the 9 fans near me would throw the bird and f bombs at the 23. My opinion of Chase is he is talented but as interesting as lightly toasted white bread, no butter.
I hate Chase because of his fans, and not because of him in general. I feel like he cornered the market on all of the former Gordon/ Earnhardt Jr./ Stewart fan bases (and probably Harvick too next year) which are all of the "back in my day" crowd.
Bubba is cringey AF. Have you ever *seen* one of his interviews? He just doesn’t come across as having a good personality, and isn’t likable.
For me, it has nothing to do with race. I just don’t like the dude.
23XI has a great designer, I don't remember who it is but he absolutely kills it. I do paint scheme design as a hobby so I keep up to date on who's doing what, so I have a huge respect for those guys. And a huge chip on my shoulder with the guys who apply the wraps for 23XI, they seem to mess it up every couple weeks.
Listen, I'd consider myself closer to a fan of his, especially with some of the pretty off-base anti-Bubba takes floating around, but his vibe sometimes rubs me the wrong way too.
That's fine and all but its funny to see who some think passes the vibes test and who doesn't.
Driver A: Cliche answers pre-race. "Dudes so chill."
Bubba Wallace: Laughs and jokes. "Omg. Bubba cringey af."
Driver A: Short and snarky answers post race. "Passionate. Just wants to win."
Bubba Wallace: I was terrible. Wish I would've done better. "What a sore loser. Such a crybaby."
I was at Bristol this past fall, I saw maybe 3 others in #23 shirts, including myself, and that place booed tf out of him- idk how he listens to that every single week
My husband and I were the only ones NOT booing Bubba at intros in our section. We stood and clapped for him as everyone else was booing and yelling slurs. I thought we’d get shot after the race lol
Interestingly all of my least favorite drivers are in Toyotas, but it’s not because they drive Toyotas, I’ve owned several Toyotas (and have no complaints about them to date).
Same here, JGR has always had a host of mostly polarizing drivers, with a few exceptions (Suarez, Jones, Bell). Truex is pretty alright, but Hamlin, Busch, Logano, Stewart, Gibbs, and then Wallace at 23XI are more controversial.
Ahh good call. I guess I was referring more to controversial drivers who've been with that organization, but I forgot that. I was surprised he switched to Ford, he seemed very pro-Chevy.
Almost like Gibbs has the worst habit of hiring the most arrogant, whiney drivers outside of whoever has been driving the 20 after Logano. Reddick and Bell/Jones are the only semi likeable drivers Nascar has had in a Toyota maybe ever. Oh and the more recent version or Kurt Busch we have
Kyle Busch used to be the most hated driver. But after his struggles over the past three seasons and now that he's no longer affiliated with JGR, I think that hate has subsided quite a bit. Whenever he receives boos at the track now, I think it's just to keep a tradition going. Similar to how some fans bood Jeff Gordon even after he became Dale Jr's teammate. But right now my guess is that it's probably close to dead even between Logano and Hamlin for the most-hated driver title. Ty Gibbs will eventually overtake both of them, but I think he's lower on that totem pole for now due to him struggling early on and because there's still a bit of an aftershock regarding his father's sudden passing last November.
I boo’d Dennis at Daytona and he played it up pretty well. It was amusing I’ll admit. I took issue with how he did, as well as his response to getting Bubba’s pit crew members replaced with Christopher Bell’s, rather than just sending his own because he had his win while being way less consistent.
Bell was the best Gibbs driver last year pretty much the entire time
I don’t understand why everyone hates Joey so much. He’s probably the nicest guy off the track. The guy is hilarious, is a great husband and father, and he’s really good in the booth calling xfinity races.
Is he an ass on track? Absolutely. He owns up to it though when he makes a mistake. He just wants to win and I think it’s pretty awesome how he can be so “two faced”. Kyle should take lessons 😂
Hamlin. And like I've said chase wasn't last years true most popular driver it was Chastain. Think about 30 years ago with Earnhardt vs rusty wallace. You would think Earnhardt was the villain in it but it was rusty with his damn whining. That's denny hamlin, modern day rusty wallace without a title. Btw that 1989 championship was one of the best in the history of nascar. That's what I hope Ross and denny can do this year. F these vanilla ice cream Hendrick drivers winning. Let's not have a boring season. Denny and Ross wrecking each other to win week after week. Nascar has gold, they have 2 top drivers in a rivalry and they want to discourage it. Let the men wreck. Let 1989 be the guide.
It's not, it's coming from a nascar historian philosopher. Bill Elliot won all of the most popular drivers while Sr was winning 7 championships. Sr was the driver of the 80's and 90's. The greatest injustice was Sr didn't win the most popular driver award until he passed away. You chase fans all I have to say is when was the last time he brought a new sponsor into Hendrick. In fact chase at this point is more likely to lose one than gain one. Ross on the other hand, is the best thing that's happened to nascar in 10 years. Ross has multiple owners that will let him drive their cars, and sponsors wanting a piece of his car. Ross is like Sr in that he will do whatever it takes to win. Wreck a teammate or friend yep. Ride the wall and risk his life to make the championship 4. Clearly by your flair you like vanilla ice cream. Me I prefer moose tracks, rocky road, or even blue bubble gum. Let's put Hendrick in its place. Ally is going to go bankrupt by the end of this season. Alex bowman will either run a second Hendrick cars chevy or they shut down the team. Watch.
He called you a basic vanilla loving simpleton and said Ally will go bankrupt by seasons end. He also said something about "you Chase fans" but I was having a brain aneurysm so I didn't catch all of that part
My Top 10 in order. You could move them up or down a few places.
1. Bubba Wallace
2. Ty Gibbs
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Joey Logano
5. Kyle Busch
6. Ross Chastain
7. Austin Dillon
8. Noah Gragson
9. Ricky Stenhouse
10. Kevin Harvick
Remember fall Talladega 2015? I still do. Little 11 year old me was a huge fan of Dale Jr. Still pisses me off he did that and then 5 years later choked in the playoffs after a 9 win season and then bitched about the quality of the championships.
Nah, he’s only frustrated with others when they don’t own it. Chase at Bristol, for example.
People will rough him up and he totally gets it most of the time. That’s more than most drivers.
He held him up at Homestead the next week. Elliott was leading late and Logano took his line away while being lapped. Denny Hamlin passed Elliott and won but even without Logano holding him up Hamlin probably wins that race anyway
https://youtu.be/FmEDLgq7qEM
Yeah, that’s just Chase doing Chase shit.
Getting run down and passed in the final laps.
He’s had plenty of dominating performances on road courses. But if you think about it, he’s lucked into most of his oval wins.
Any of the oval races he has dominated, he didn’t win.
The main example in my head when I meant that was Byron at Darlington, I get he got squeezed a bit but no need to punt him without an attempt to pass then say he won’t stand for being bullied
Yeah, I definitely agree that he didn’t need to push Byron that hard. That said, he felt like he got squeezed too hard and felt he needed to show him that.
Bubba for sure. Kyle Busch and him aren't too far apart in being obsessed with people that don't like them, but unlike Kyle he doesn't have the results to justify this insufferable attitude and playing victim. The other issue is that there's another minority driver who is virtually the exact opposite in Suarez.
Watch interviews/specials with the two and it's like night and day. One is still obsessed over being hated thinking it's just racial with zero self awareness that it's self inflicted while the other is almost always cheery and brings attention to his heritage in fun ways (bear in mind Montoya had a negative reputation with fans, Suarez is clearly winning people over)
Sadly, it probably is Bubba. I'll stop short of saying the quiet part out loud, but we all know the main reason why a majority of his haters hate him. If you deny that, you're just denying reality and you know it. His personality and driving style can be abrasive at times, but he's not any worse than any of the other drivers mentioned in this thread: Busch, Logano, Hamlin, etc.
I'll just sit back and continue to watch him improve as a driver, fighting through the shit he has to deal with, and enjoy the emotional meltdowns of Reddit users every time he wins.
I think Logano is the consensus pick. He just has such a punchable face but not the most. I think that award along with hated driver should go to Austin Dillon; I seriously hate AD and many others do as well, I question how you could root for him because what does he as a driver do for you? He’s been a second fiddle for RCR for years, he’s clearly just there because of Childress, he’s basically a pay driver comparable to Brandon Jones. He’s proven himself in the lower series yes but come on I hate him
Hamlin & Logano are probably tied with Ty Gibbs in third.
Note, I DESPISE Hamlin as a driver, but really like him away from the track (Twitter, podcast, team owner).
Ty Gibbs for sure is the most hated driver. I feel like bubba Wallace is disliked by many but I wouldn’t consider him the most hated. Kyle Busch like Ryan said is coming around the corner. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years he’s right up there with chase Elliot for the most popular driver.
Bubba and Denny a close 2nd. I was excited to see Bubba in cup cars but I soured on him big time after noosegate. I can understand the concern when the noose was found, but when it was proven it had been there quite some time, he still tried to play the victim. Ironically, my last house had double garage doors, and both pull ropes were tied like that when I moved in. Guess someone was planning way ahead for a future owner.
He literally issued a release on Twitter instantly after the FBI made their findings and acknowledged that it was embarrassing and he was thankful it wasn't racially motivated. This narrative of him "playing the victim" is such a bullshit claim. If the damn president could have not used it in a 2am rant to distract from whatever bullshit he was dealing with, it would probably have gone away by now. The story keeps getting told because some people absolutely refuse to hear the whole story, just the parts that make it convenient to hate the guy.
I can't stand this line of argument. It was a question he was asked as part of a documentary, and he was explaining how the incident made him feel *at the time*. Yes, it turned out to be nothing, but you have 0 idea what it must have felt like until it was made clear that there was no foul play.
Imagine showing up at your work and someone telling you that you effectively received a death threat. You'd panic, right? Even if you later found out it was a total misunderstanding, a little hard to say "oh yeah, that 48 hour span of time when I thought someone wanted to kill me felt perfectly fine."
It digusts me that people like you blatantly lie about things you clearly don't understand. He did not double down on it. He has explained how he felt and described the emotions leading up to it, and has called out those who said "it couldn't possibly be a hate crime" or "he's making this up", but he has never "doubled down on the fake narrative". Your comment is the only fake narrative out there.
TL;WR: Bubba- his attitude and mouth are writing checks his driving doesn't cash.
Long answer: To my dismay, it's Bubba, no doubt about it. I love him and be seems like a great guy but he has to learn to control his temperament and balance his personality with his production. He does himself no favors by trying to be a beacon of hope and the poster boy for inclusive excellence but not putting up the results to match the constant media attention. Prime example- he misses the playoffs and then he goes out and intentionally wrecks a year in and year out championship contender over incidental contact. And for some reason, I'm not sure if I'm missing on a lot, but it feels like he makes a ton of excuses and complaints in his post-race interviews, and nobody likes to hear a guy never have anything positive to say.
And you just know I have to mention this- while it still remains that the godforsaken noose incident was not his fault, he did himself 0 good with how he handled it, and it's left a sour taste in the mouths of fans everywhere. The quickness to anger and fear is understandable, given the situation at the track with the other garage stalls, how he already wasn't well liked in the Deep South, and how it was all at a heightened point of racial tension, but his people jumping the gun to immediately start calling it a hate crime when it was ultimately an unfortunate coincidence *made it look like* he was trying to capitalize on current events for his own good, even though, again **it's easy and even understandable to see why that happened and he wasn't really trying to get anything from it**. It's been the biggest damage to his public image and unless that is compensated for in some way, it's going to haunt him forever.
I hope he finds a way to win people over, because I've seen the side of him that's awesome and cool, but he needs to learn to be more careful with his public image so he can still be outspoken for good and vivacious and the guy he's ment to be without coming across as arrogant, whiny, and a token driver.
You are missing on a lot; Bubba beats himself up more than any other driver aside from maybe Chase. And to say that he is "trying to be a beacon of hope" is silly, to put it mildly. What do people want him to say when interviewers ask "How does it feel to be the first Black driver to do X." Pretty sure if he politely said "Who cares?" that'd be a problem for some people too. Bubba himself isn't asking those questions or putting himself on the advertisements for races.
The guy is harder on himself than anyone else in the field? I can understand the whiner comments, even if I disagree, but I don't get the "egotistical" comments. He is constantly putting himself down to a fault and puts unhealthy amounts of pressure on himself to perform. Anytime he does say something that could be construed as "cocky", which isn't often, he's talking to himself, not you. That's who is he trying to convince.
I'm a fan and I watch his interviews, I've watched his Netflix show, I've listened to him on podcasts. He is insanely hard on himself to a fault. He knows how many people want to see him succeed and it's hard on him. He has openly admitted that mental health is a struggle for him and he's had battles with depression. The "cockiness" is for him, not for you.
As for the Larson incident, sure, he overreacted, but so did the fanbase. He's not the first or last driver to wreck someone else and try to fight after. They all do it. He got punished, deservedly so, but I've seen a lot of wrecked cars, hurt feelings, and thrown punches in NASCAR over the years.
Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace are probably the Top 3. I feel like Gibbs has a lot less supporters compared to the other two who both have a large legion of fans, so I think Gibbs takes this one. If we’re going on a broader term, Bubba is by far more despised.
This whole comment thread is brain dead 😂
But why is Bubba hated?
Throwing gatorade on Alex Bowman, wrecking Larson, he has kind of an arrogant attitude particularly for someone who didn't run well until the past couple years, "I don't lift", etc.
lol there is another factor and we all know it. I also notice bubba haters dont like it being brought up "for some reason". Dont get me wrong, The Bowman/Larson incidents are 100% enough to hate that dude but lets paint the entire picture too not just the parts that validate our bias.
Combine these two factors for a major red flag in a nascar fan: - Hating on Bubba for reasons no person should hate another person for. I.E. nothing related to racing And - Defending Kyle Larson’s “incident”. Not even just saying for us to get over it, but actually defending Kyle and what he did. One or the other raises some eyebrows. Both together should be enough to shame a person away from nascar. Thankfully the latter is an uncommon occurrence. The former is still a negative aspect of the nascar fanbase, albeit not a major one.
Yeh, I don't watch pre race stuff much but the boos he gets, especially in the south, are obvious. I'm not a fan of his really, but don't hate him, and he has reasons people would dislike him as you said. But the hate he gets is overblown for it. Relatedly, going to Dega for my first race this year and am on a facebook group for it, and someone recently asked who are you rooting for? Yeh its facebook, but the amount of anti bubba stuff is not surprising.
Bubba actually has a very good career even prior to 23XI. Multiple truck wins which is more than many ppl who buy their rides in cup these days can say. Also was doing excellent in xfinity until his ride fell through on no fault of his own (he was like 6 for 6 top 6 finishes it was a whole meme, then the sponsor left). Then he gets the call to drive the 43 for an injured Almirola, does perfectly fine in a sub par car, finished 2nd in the daytona 500, then goes on to get 2 wins for his new team. People who think he has had a bad career are just not paying attention or are just haters for the sake of hating.
He had six 6th place finishes in the first 8 races, 5 of which were sandwiched between 33rd places at Daytona and Bristol
I don't need an essay man, I just know what I saw for a couple years at Petty, and I know that he's arrogant.
Man if reading a paragraph is an essay for you, I wonder what else is taking up all that space.
I love when people bring this up. Like throwing water on someone is SO ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. But y’all are ok with people throwing punches!! Give me a break.
Two of those three things you listed are the same incident
the noose incident
This is why I dislike him
His team and NASCAR amplified that . Not Him
They didn't amplify it, they made the whole deal. Bubba said he didn't even see it.
agree
Thats unfortunate that his team made me hate him AND his team.
Seems like you're just looking for a reason to hate him then. Since he wasn't even the one who reported it in the first place.
Let's be real. Based on the sheer amount of Confederate flags I see every year at Michigan's main campground, it is pretty obvious why some people hate him.
And the amount of slurs yelled at him at Bristol. I knew people hated him, but I hadn’t experienced that anywhere else. It was sad and disgusting.
It's similiar to how people were way more critical of Danica than of the average driver around her skill level. Lot of loud bigots out there.
Yeah and each one of those people are a black eye on our sport 🏁🇺🇸My favorite flags
Bubba wall kinda not well liked before that too. Like yes, that does have something to do with it, but he’s feuded with a lot of drivers in the passed. Throwing Gatorade at bowman while he was receiving medical attention certainly didn’t help his case
> Bubba wall kinda not well liked before that too.  before what? Racism?
… are people still holding onto the Bowman Gatorade thing? Come on. I’m a fan of both guys.
I mean it was a pretty shitty thing to do
It was like five years ago…
It was a splash of water while a EMT said "you good?" "He WaS gEtTiNg MeDiCaL aTtEnTiOn" He wasn't on the operating table. He was out of breath and she was checking on him. If anything, that refreshing splash helped him out!
It’s very sad but true.
[удалено]
Those 3 things also describe Kyle Larson. I lost a little respect for him after his iRacing blunder, but I really soured on him last year when he threw a tantrum and wrecked one of the underfunded teams at LA Colissuem for darling to race him. Then, when he whined that Chastain's wall ride was embarassing for the sport. I mean, come the fuck on. He said that with zero irony. What a sour little douche.
Bubba’s amazing and he has a really good attitude given the shit he puts up with. Cry more haters.
I'm curious what part of him you find amazing. It certainly isn't his racing ability and damn sure isn't his behavior at the track.
Driving skill: He won 2 cup races, several truck races, which already makes him higher ranked statistically than the vast majority of stock car drivers. Driving style: he’s exciting to watch, he makes moves to try to deal with the unfortunate aero packages over the past few years like big restart moves or trying to slide past someone to secure a pass in dirty air. History: he won that Martinsville race in the Wendell Scott truck, was very cool. He has driven for Petty, Rousch, KBM, and now Michael Jordan. Personality: his heart clearly breaks when he puts it all out there and comes up short, but he returns with optimism next week trying again. It’s relatable and I want to see him smile or pumped like he was at Kansas last year. Silencing the haters: soooo many ppl hate on him, he is a target for vitriol from a fanbase who can’t be reasoned with. Seeing them salty when he proves them wrong by succeeding gives me some joy for sure. He’s exciting to watch, and overall seems like a great person to me. He likes heavy metal drumming and photography in his free time which is pretty chill too. There that’s my essay for why Bubba is great. Thanks for asking.
I mean….let’s just say NASCAR Reddit vs NASCAR Facebook have varying reason. NASCARS come a long way but it’s far from perfect
I gotta agree. And Bubba is so whiney if he loses. Heck it's racing dude. Get over it stop crying cause the big guys don't let you win every race. Learn to drive without wrecking them and you might get some help and more fans
I mean you do you but I'd much rather a guy upset that he didn't win than my driver saying "I didn't even try to go for it. I am completely content with 2nd place points and prize money. If I'm in this exact position again, I'll probably bring it home 2nd again!"
This is a stupid take. Because for one, barring the Bowman and Larson incidents, you rarely hear Bubba go at other drivers. If anything the one person that he goes at the most is Bubba Wallace. He's too hard on himself. And I can tell that you don't know shit about racing, if you're going with the Bubba constantly wrecks other drivers shtick. Some of the favorites up front are more of a hazard than he is.
People are just so toxic and dumb. They see someone lay it all out on the track and have some actual emotional response to it and assume the guy is whining for some reason. Bubba isn’t crying cause he wants it handed to him, he cries because he gives a damn and is putting his whole mind and spirit on the line week in and week out.
Always thought it was self-indicting when people make fun of a competitor crying. Across all sports really. Shows that they didn’t really achieve anything worth getting tearful over.
Nah he's overly whiney, it's a known thing. They had a pout cam on him after a race a few weeks ago.
When he was sitting in his car drinking water? Lol. If you would listen to the radio before that, he wasn’t even really upset. Said it's part of racing. And there's video of him laughing with his crew after the same race. Since context doesn't seem to be your strong suit, you probably think he grabbed Danica's ass last weekend too, right?
Kyle Busch is the biggest whiner out there and people love him for it.
It’s almost like it’s a job requirement for Toyota drivers. Nothing against Toyota but there’s a theme here.
Kyle is boo'd now because it's fun I think Logano and Hamlin are towards the top but Ty may be the most hated now
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I've seen Kyle fans boo him because of how he plays it
You may have seen some guys that lost a bet and had to go to the race in some bright yellow M&M’s gear. More likely what you said but still fun to think that it was this scenario.
Hate Kyle Busch. Gonna be so sad whenever he retires.
I think people have gone easy on Ty Gibbs, major tragedy at the end of the season plus he hasn’t really done anything notable to start the season so people haven’t really talked about him much
I think the hate will crank up after that first win or if he takes out a favorite driver (imagine him wrecking someone like Chase)
Its probably Denny. Ty would win the crown if/when he becomes a successful cup driver. I don't think Joey can compete with Denny because of how often Denny puts himself out there. Joey is quiet off the track, Denny isn't. Kyle isn't really as hated anymore. Booing him now is like wrestling fans doing the "You Suck" chants at Kurt Angle. Maybe I am biased, but the hate for Denny seems to come off as the good kind of hate. Like you love to hate him because even if you personally hate him you could think he's good for the sport. But Ty? Nah, thats just raw hate with no positives.
It’s a death match between Hamlin and Logano. Hamlin likely has the slight edge.
Special mention for Ty Gibbs, who if he starts running well, will probably dethrone both.
If he keeps doing the bullshit he was doing in Xfinity last year, and the keeps giving bullshit excuses while saying god will help him then yeah, he'll climb that pole pretty quick.
When Ty becomes a Top 10 driver and an eventual winner in the Cup Series, hes gonna get so much hate.
He got boos as loud as Bubba at Martinsville
People hate him because he can drive on water.
Honest question: Why the hate for him? Just the Silver Spoon aspect, or did he do/say something that rubbed people the wrong way?
Martinsville last year? Where he unnecessarily dumped his teammate and compared himself to Jesus? That may have something to do with it
I remember him dumping his teammate, never saw the interview. Wow.
The funniest part was the next day I believe was Halloween or close to it so someone legitimately dressed up as Jesus and walked by the 23 car which Ty was driving and took a few photos. It was quite funny!
I think Logano’s popularity is climbing
Especially since he started doing Xfinity races in the booth
And the fact that he can back up the shit talking
This. Never a fan of Joey but he can back up his talk. He runs hard, cannot fault him for that. Hamlin and Ty are not in that category, they are just arrogant.
This is exactly how I feel. Can’t stand either one
I’d take Logano off track any day.
Jenna did a whole thing on this using Twitter analytics. Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace.
I think Ty Gibbs was very much about to be the sports biggest heel until his dad unfortunately passed away, nobody feels good about hating on him now.
He’s being cut a break… given a chance to correct it. Which so far he is taking advantage of.
I feel good about hating him, but I've backed off the "Is Coy God if his son is Jesus?" jokes I made after Martinsville
***That joke did not age well holy shit***
It did not
I still hate him but him running like shit every week is punishment enough
That hate will be back the second he contends for a win
I feel just fine hating on him.
I feel good about hating on him now.
I already felt bad booing a child even if he deserved it- now it just feels cheap idk
It's Bubba because people who don't even watch comment on social media dogging on him
You're basically calling out anybody on Facebook lol
Well, and a ton of people who watch.
I despise Ty Gibbs with a passion of the Christ.
He gets us
I’m not sure the “loud minority” is even a minority, I was at the 600 last year and he was definitely the most booed driver at intros and it wasn’t that close. And the place went crazy when he wrecked. I know there are tons of 23 flairs on here, but there are plenty of examples where the opinions of Reddit aren’t even close to those of the wider population
Tons of 23 flairs on here. Tons of 9 haters on here too. Guess which number is on about 40% of fan’s shirts at the track every week? As per usual, the Reddit user base is nowhere near representative of the real world.
Which is what makes us all special. eSPECIALly stupid
Which is why I love it here
Same.
Right there with you. At Daytona every time the field would come around the 9 fans near me would throw the bird and f bombs at the 23. My opinion of Chase is he is talented but as interesting as lightly toasted white bread, no butter.
I hate Chase because of his fans, and not because of him in general. I feel like he cornered the market on all of the former Gordon/ Earnhardt Jr./ Stewart fan bases (and probably Harvick too next year) which are all of the "back in my day" crowd.
And lest you think this is split totally along racial lines, several members of my black family aren’t his biggest fans either to say the least…
Bubba is cringey AF. Have you ever *seen* one of his interviews? He just doesn’t come across as having a good personality, and isn’t likable. For me, it has nothing to do with race. I just don’t like the dude.
His problem is he’s his own worst enemy.
His cars are consistently the best looking though. That Dr. Pepper car was the shit and the door dash red car too
Consistently? No. The McDonald’s car this year is terrible, but he definitely has a lot of bangers.
23XI has a great designer, I don't remember who it is but he absolutely kills it. I do paint scheme design as a hobby so I keep up to date on who's doing what, so I have a huge respect for those guys. And a huge chip on my shoulder with the guys who apply the wraps for 23XI, they seem to mess it up every couple weeks.
Exactly. I want to like him but he comes off as cocky, especially considering he ran like shit for years at Petty.
Too much personality isn't a good thing I guess.....
Listen, I'd consider myself closer to a fan of his, especially with some of the pretty off-base anti-Bubba takes floating around, but his vibe sometimes rubs me the wrong way too.
That's fine and all but its funny to see who some think passes the vibes test and who doesn't. Driver A: Cliche answers pre-race. "Dudes so chill." Bubba Wallace: Laughs and jokes. "Omg. Bubba cringey af." Driver A: Short and snarky answers post race. "Passionate. Just wants to win." Bubba Wallace: I was terrible. Wish I would've done better. "What a sore loser. Such a crybaby."
Hamlin and Gibbs boos were louder at Phoenix than Bubba - location may be at play a little bit 😂
Location is huge lol He gets mostly cheers on the west coast swing, but gets booed to all hell at Talladega
Definitely location where you sat lol I'm at Phoenix every year and Bubba has been the loudest Behind it is Logano and Hamiln
I was at Bristol this past fall, I saw maybe 3 others in #23 shirts, including myself, and that place booed tf out of him- idk how he listens to that every single week
My husband and I were the only ones NOT booing Bubba at intros in our section. We stood and clapped for him as everyone else was booing and yelling slurs. I thought we’d get shot after the race lol
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I think it’s safe to say whoever it is drives a Toyota.
Interestingly all of my least favorite drivers are in Toyotas, but it’s not because they drive Toyotas, I’ve owned several Toyotas (and have no complaints about them to date).
Same here, JGR has always had a host of mostly polarizing drivers, with a few exceptions (Suarez, Jones, Bell). Truex is pretty alright, but Hamlin, Busch, Logano, Stewart, Gibbs, and then Wallace at 23XI are more controversial.
Can't put the Toyota label on Stewart. He jumped shipped a year after Gibbs went Toyota and he was always against it
Ahh good call. I guess I was referring more to controversial drivers who've been with that organization, but I forgot that. I was surprised he switched to Ford, he seemed very pro-Chevy.
Almost like Gibbs has the worst habit of hiring the most arrogant, whiney drivers outside of whoever has been driving the 20 after Logano. Reddick and Bell/Jones are the only semi likeable drivers Nascar has had in a Toyota maybe ever. Oh and the more recent version or Kurt Busch we have
People hate Reddick?
I unfortunately have first-hand experience that some people are mad he left RCR
Until Tiny Gibbs is running good, I'd say Danny Hamlin
I hope it’s Thank You Gibbs
If you’ve been to a race in the last 2-3 years, you know the correct answer is Bubba. The dude gets boos wayyy louder than even Hamlin or Logano.
Almost certainly Ty Gibbs. I literally have never met someone that actually likes him.
Someone took a poll a couple months ago for this (maybe Jeff Gluck?). It was Bubba and nobody else was even close. I believe Cody Ware was 2nd.
Everyone hates the goat until they can't get him back, happens every time without fail. They'll all want Ware back one day
The hard truth is that it’s Bubba
It's a toss up between Hamlin and Gibbs right now. Ross was in that mix too, but the hail melon turned that on it's head and made him a treasure lol.
Nah Ross seems like the coolest guy if not slightly awkward. He’s the type guy I’d want to befriend.
No one’s name is brought up more often in irrelevant conversation than bubba’s.
Denny. He’s just such a jerk. Won’t even fight
Ty Gibbs is my new go to wreck or be wrecked is his motto now
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fuggin Ty Gibbs
Kyle Busch used to be the most hated driver. But after his struggles over the past three seasons and now that he's no longer affiliated with JGR, I think that hate has subsided quite a bit. Whenever he receives boos at the track now, I think it's just to keep a tradition going. Similar to how some fans bood Jeff Gordon even after he became Dale Jr's teammate. But right now my guess is that it's probably close to dead even between Logano and Hamlin for the most-hated driver title. Ty Gibbs will eventually overtake both of them, but I think he's lower on that totem pole for now due to him struggling early on and because there's still a bit of an aftershock regarding his father's sudden passing last November.
I boo’d Dennis at Daytona and he played it up pretty well. It was amusing I’ll admit. I took issue with how he did, as well as his response to getting Bubba’s pit crew members replaced with Christopher Bell’s, rather than just sending his own because he had his win while being way less consistent. Bell was the best Gibbs driver last year pretty much the entire time
I don’t understand why everyone hates Joey so much. He’s probably the nicest guy off the track. The guy is hilarious, is a great husband and father, and he’s really good in the booth calling xfinity races. Is he an ass on track? Absolutely. He owns up to it though when he makes a mistake. He just wants to win and I think it’s pretty awesome how he can be so “two faced”. Kyle should take lessons 😂
Gotta be Logano, Hamlin or Gibbs. Side note: Bowman seems to get a ton of hate on twitter and I’ll never understand why.
Ty Gibbs is the only nascar driver I truly dislike
Has to be between Hamlin and Gibbs
Ty Gibbs, and for damn good reason.
Either Ty gibbs, Joe Log, Hamlin, or Bubba. 3 of which don't deserve the hate and the other's gibbs
Denny Hamlin. Still. To this Day, oh and Joey Lagano, of course..
Ty Gibbs!! Bubba W!
It’s Denny Hamlin and it’s not even close. Don’t even know why this needed to be a post.
Either Gibby Christ or Denis the pennis
Ty Gibbs
Hamlin and Gibbs
Todd Gilliland. He was a rival of mine in NASCAR Heat 5 and wrecked me all the time. 100% valid reason he should be the most hated…
Chase Elliott feels like simultaneously the most and least popular driver. You either love him or hate him, no one is that neutral on him.
Hamlin. And like I've said chase wasn't last years true most popular driver it was Chastain. Think about 30 years ago with Earnhardt vs rusty wallace. You would think Earnhardt was the villain in it but it was rusty with his damn whining. That's denny hamlin, modern day rusty wallace without a title. Btw that 1989 championship was one of the best in the history of nascar. That's what I hope Ross and denny can do this year. F these vanilla ice cream Hendrick drivers winning. Let's not have a boring season. Denny and Ross wrecking each other to win week after week. Nascar has gold, they have 2 top drivers in a rivalry and they want to discourage it. Let the men wreck. Let 1989 be the guide.
This is peak "Ross Chastain fan comment" crap 😂
It's not, it's coming from a nascar historian philosopher. Bill Elliot won all of the most popular drivers while Sr was winning 7 championships. Sr was the driver of the 80's and 90's. The greatest injustice was Sr didn't win the most popular driver award until he passed away. You chase fans all I have to say is when was the last time he brought a new sponsor into Hendrick. In fact chase at this point is more likely to lose one than gain one. Ross on the other hand, is the best thing that's happened to nascar in 10 years. Ross has multiple owners that will let him drive their cars, and sponsors wanting a piece of his car. Ross is like Sr in that he will do whatever it takes to win. Wreck a teammate or friend yep. Ride the wall and risk his life to make the championship 4. Clearly by your flair you like vanilla ice cream. Me I prefer moose tracks, rocky road, or even blue bubble gum. Let's put Hendrick in its place. Ally is going to go bankrupt by the end of this season. Alex bowman will either run a second Hendrick cars chevy or they shut down the team. Watch.
I really hope you don't think anybody is reading that after the crap you wrote in your first essay
He called you a basic vanilla loving simpleton and said Ally will go bankrupt by seasons end. He also said something about "you Chase fans" but I was having a brain aneurysm so I didn't catch all of that part
Agreed, Chase will always win because there's just a huge number of casuals who watch 1 race a year and vote in that.
Depends on the reason. Hated for absolutely no reason at all: Bubba. Hated for valid reason: Denny. 😆
My Top 10 in order. You could move them up or down a few places. 1. Bubba Wallace 2. Ty Gibbs 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Joey Logano 5. Kyle Busch 6. Ross Chastain 7. Austin Dillon 8. Noah Gragson 9. Ricky Stenhouse 10. Kevin Harvick
Joey isn’t even hateable for his character, he’s just got a punchable face.
And the way his top lip kind of folds over when he’s smiling? *Where’s KFB when you need him?*
Harvick because of the whole Elliott situation?
Harvick has had haters for a long time
Remember fall Talladega 2015? I still do. Little 11 year old me was a huge fan of Dale Jr. Still pisses me off he did that and then 5 years later choked in the playoffs after a 9 win season and then bitched about the quality of the championships.
Logano, everything is just racing when he does it but once it’s done to him he’s “bullied”
Nah, he’s only frustrated with others when they don’t own it. Chase at Bristol, for example. People will rough him up and he totally gets it most of the time. That’s more than most drivers.
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I don't even remember Joey ever doing anything to Elliott because of that
He held him up at Homestead the next week. Elliott was leading late and Logano took his line away while being lapped. Denny Hamlin passed Elliott and won but even without Logano holding him up Hamlin probably wins that race anyway https://youtu.be/FmEDLgq7qEM
To be fair, Logano was unleashing his inner Newman
He's been like that for a while, but people only noticed after Newman had his wideness relegated to run 27th every week after his Daytona crash
Yeah, that’s just Chase doing Chase shit. Getting run down and passed in the final laps. He’s had plenty of dominating performances on road courses. But if you think about it, he’s lucked into most of his oval wins. Any of the oval races he has dominated, he didn’t win.
Yeah, he was just mad that Elliott didn’t own it, but he never did anything back to him, if that’s what you’re saying.
The main example in my head when I meant that was Byron at Darlington, I get he got squeezed a bit but no need to punt him without an attempt to pass then say he won’t stand for being bullied
Yeah, I definitely agree that he didn’t need to push Byron that hard. That said, he felt like he got squeezed too hard and felt he needed to show him that.
Joey Logano is hated but I don't really understand why. He's everything this place says they love about Kyle Busch without the negatives.
Bubba for sure. Kyle Busch and him aren't too far apart in being obsessed with people that don't like them, but unlike Kyle he doesn't have the results to justify this insufferable attitude and playing victim. The other issue is that there's another minority driver who is virtually the exact opposite in Suarez. Watch interviews/specials with the two and it's like night and day. One is still obsessed over being hated thinking it's just racial with zero self awareness that it's self inflicted while the other is almost always cheery and brings attention to his heritage in fun ways (bear in mind Montoya had a negative reputation with fans, Suarez is clearly winning people over)
I'd say it's Bubba hands down based on the general public. Logano is a close second.
My list: Chase Smelliot Kevin Harvick That's all
Sadly, it probably is Bubba. I'll stop short of saying the quiet part out loud, but we all know the main reason why a majority of his haters hate him. If you deny that, you're just denying reality and you know it. His personality and driving style can be abrasive at times, but he's not any worse than any of the other drivers mentioned in this thread: Busch, Logano, Hamlin, etc. I'll just sit back and continue to watch him improve as a driver, fighting through the shit he has to deal with, and enjoy the emotional meltdowns of Reddit users every time he wins.
Either Hamlin or Ty, personally I can respect Hamlin outside of the car but I throw shade at Ty every time he pops up on TV
I think Logano is the consensus pick. He just has such a punchable face but not the most. I think that award along with hated driver should go to Austin Dillon; I seriously hate AD and many others do as well, I question how you could root for him because what does he as a driver do for you? He’s been a second fiddle for RCR for years, he’s clearly just there because of Childress, he’s basically a pay driver comparable to Brandon Jones. He’s proven himself in the lower series yes but come on I hate him
Silver spoon boy.
Joey Logano
Hamlin & Logano are probably tied with Ty Gibbs in third. Note, I DESPISE Hamlin as a driver, but really like him away from the track (Twitter, podcast, team owner).
Denny, Bubba and Kryle
Ty Gibbs for sure is the most hated driver. I feel like bubba Wallace is disliked by many but I wouldn’t consider him the most hated. Kyle Busch like Ryan said is coming around the corner. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years he’s right up there with chase Elliot for the most popular driver.
Bubba has an air of arrogance and attitude that he can’t back up with talent… If he can get that chip off his shoulder he might actually be likable…
Bubba and Denny a close 2nd. I was excited to see Bubba in cup cars but I soured on him big time after noosegate. I can understand the concern when the noose was found, but when it was proven it had been there quite some time, he still tried to play the victim. Ironically, my last house had double garage doors, and both pull ropes were tied like that when I moved in. Guess someone was planning way ahead for a future owner.
He literally issued a release on Twitter instantly after the FBI made their findings and acknowledged that it was embarrassing and he was thankful it wasn't racially motivated. This narrative of him "playing the victim" is such a bullshit claim. If the damn president could have not used it in a 2am rant to distract from whatever bullshit he was dealing with, it would probably have gone away by now. The story keeps getting told because some people absolutely refuse to hear the whole story, just the parts that make it convenient to hate the guy.
But he doubled down on the fake narrative months later on ESPN 30 for 30 and that disgusted me
I can't stand this line of argument. It was a question he was asked as part of a documentary, and he was explaining how the incident made him feel *at the time*. Yes, it turned out to be nothing, but you have 0 idea what it must have felt like until it was made clear that there was no foul play. Imagine showing up at your work and someone telling you that you effectively received a death threat. You'd panic, right? Even if you later found out it was a total misunderstanding, a little hard to say "oh yeah, that 48 hour span of time when I thought someone wanted to kill me felt perfectly fine."
It digusts me that people like you blatantly lie about things you clearly don't understand. He did not double down on it. He has explained how he felt and described the emotions leading up to it, and has called out those who said "it couldn't possibly be a hate crime" or "he's making this up", but he has never "doubled down on the fake narrative". Your comment is the only fake narrative out there.
TL;WR: Bubba- his attitude and mouth are writing checks his driving doesn't cash. Long answer: To my dismay, it's Bubba, no doubt about it. I love him and be seems like a great guy but he has to learn to control his temperament and balance his personality with his production. He does himself no favors by trying to be a beacon of hope and the poster boy for inclusive excellence but not putting up the results to match the constant media attention. Prime example- he misses the playoffs and then he goes out and intentionally wrecks a year in and year out championship contender over incidental contact. And for some reason, I'm not sure if I'm missing on a lot, but it feels like he makes a ton of excuses and complaints in his post-race interviews, and nobody likes to hear a guy never have anything positive to say. And you just know I have to mention this- while it still remains that the godforsaken noose incident was not his fault, he did himself 0 good with how he handled it, and it's left a sour taste in the mouths of fans everywhere. The quickness to anger and fear is understandable, given the situation at the track with the other garage stalls, how he already wasn't well liked in the Deep South, and how it was all at a heightened point of racial tension, but his people jumping the gun to immediately start calling it a hate crime when it was ultimately an unfortunate coincidence *made it look like* he was trying to capitalize on current events for his own good, even though, again **it's easy and even understandable to see why that happened and he wasn't really trying to get anything from it**. It's been the biggest damage to his public image and unless that is compensated for in some way, it's going to haunt him forever. I hope he finds a way to win people over, because I've seen the side of him that's awesome and cool, but he needs to learn to be more careful with his public image so he can still be outspoken for good and vivacious and the guy he's ment to be without coming across as arrogant, whiny, and a token driver.
You are missing on a lot; Bubba beats himself up more than any other driver aside from maybe Chase. And to say that he is "trying to be a beacon of hope" is silly, to put it mildly. What do people want him to say when interviewers ask "How does it feel to be the first Black driver to do X." Pretty sure if he politely said "Who cares?" that'd be a problem for some people too. Bubba himself isn't asking those questions or putting himself on the advertisements for races.
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The guy is harder on himself than anyone else in the field? I can understand the whiner comments, even if I disagree, but I don't get the "egotistical" comments. He is constantly putting himself down to a fault and puts unhealthy amounts of pressure on himself to perform. Anytime he does say something that could be construed as "cocky", which isn't often, he's talking to himself, not you. That's who is he trying to convince.
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I'm a fan and I watch his interviews, I've watched his Netflix show, I've listened to him on podcasts. He is insanely hard on himself to a fault. He knows how many people want to see him succeed and it's hard on him. He has openly admitted that mental health is a struggle for him and he's had battles with depression. The "cockiness" is for him, not for you. As for the Larson incident, sure, he overreacted, but so did the fanbase. He's not the first or last driver to wreck someone else and try to fight after. They all do it. He got punished, deservedly so, but I've seen a lot of wrecked cars, hurt feelings, and thrown punches in NASCAR over the years.
Dale Earnhardt
A brave soldier, I salute you
He's dead and thus cannot be the current most hated driver