Kevin Harvick says drivers mad about Denny Hamlin’s Adderall ‘joke’

It’s not just Bubba Wallace who was unamused by Denny Hamlin’s attempt to make a joke out of a non-laughing matter.

Even though it’s Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon who currently has a commercial out about wearing a black hat — and fans of Aric Almirola undoubtedly think he deserves to wear it — the NASCAR driver who has started 2018 playing what wrestling fans know as the heel role is Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver first started down that road by going on the Pardon My Take podcast before Daytona and telling the hosts that 70 percent of the garage uses Adderall to help them concentrate.

Hamlin later claimed he was joking, and anyone who listens to the irreverent Pardon My Take knows that it never takes anything too seriously. The problem is that making even non-serious accusations about drug abuse isn’t really that funny, especially when you are using your competitors as the punchline.

Bubba Wallace has been the driver to most openly express his displeasure with Hamlin’s joke (as well as some of his actions at Daytona), but it turns out he wasn’t the only one upset by it. Kevin Harvick, never one to shy away from telling us how he really feels, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (via USA Today) that pretty much everyone is ticked at Hamlin.

"Sometimes you can say things that you think are funny that really aren’t that funny. And I know that Denny said he was kind of making an off-the-cuff comment trying to be funny. But it really wasn’t that funny because I think as you look at the rest of the drivers and the people that are in the sport and understand the drug policy and understand the things that we go through on a weekly basis, it kind of made him seem a little bit out of touch with everything that’s actually going on in the sport.So not a very cool comment, and I don’t think anybody in the garage really appreciated having to answer the questions or deal with them."

It’s not a matter of NASCAR drivers being easily offended, because it’s safe to say that most of them aren’t. What Harvick is saying is that by even raising the specter of potential drug abuse in the sport, it makes those drivers’ lives harder because they end up being asked serious questions about it by media, fans and — maybe most importantly given the current state of the sport — potential sponsors.

Next: See the Cup Series entry list for Atlanta

Most of today’s NASCAR stars are extremely media savvy and understand the way perception can sometimes be more powerful than reality. Stock car racing doesn’t need anyone even thinking it might not take drug use seriously, and if Hamlin can’t understand why people are mad that he may have put that thought in some people’s heads, then maybe he’s not one of the savvy ones after all.