Denny Hamlin played Santa for Christmas Day by giving away an all-expenses paid trip to one lucky fan. This all-expenses paid trip could be to any destination in the world. The giveaway took place on Christmas Day through the social networking site, Twitter. In order to win, all contestants (followers) had to reply with the answer to the one question that was being asked in order to get the grand prize and the following hashtag had to be attached at the end, #11in11. He made this hashtag in order to separate the replies for the game from other tweets made by fans.

This hashtag became number three on the most trending topics list on Twitter that day because of such a huge response. The winner of the all-expenses paid trip was, coincidentally, the 11th contestant. The winner chose their trip destination as the 2011 Brickyard 400 where they will also be able to meet Denny Hamlin.

Denny Hamlin chose to do this game as a way to apologize to his followers on Twitter for his extended absence from "tweeting". He promised the followers that he would have a special event planned for Christmas day to make up for his absence and he kept his promise. What he did as a celebrity is amazing because many celebrities would not give an all-expenses paid trip to wherever the winner chooses as a Christmas present.

Most celebrities would not give a fan a Christmas present at all. I think this goes to show you what type of person Denny Hamlin is and that he truly appreciates his fans. NASCAR is not all about the money, power, or recognition to him. It is also about the support of the fans that makes him who he has become as a NASCAR driver.

All NASCAR drivers and celebrities alike need to look at Denny Hamlin as an example of what a true idol should be like. A driver should never forget about their fans because fans are the ones that put money in their pockets and they are the ones that can make them lose money when it comes to support. Never bite the hand the feeds! This expression will always hold true until all NASCAR drivers can be as generous as Denny Hamlin.