Denny Hamlin Decided to Flip the Switch on His NASCAR Aggression After This Moment: “My Team Was Very Frustrated at Me”

There is no doubt that Denny Hamlin has changed his racing style over the last season, becoming more aggressive on the race track with his fellow competitors. A glaring instance of his aggressive driving style was evident after his on-track altercation with Kyle Larson at Pocono last weekend. Another instance had been his tangle with Chase Elliott at Martinsville, where he had run the HMS driver into the wall in a manner similar to Larson.

Clearly, Hamlin has changed his style, something he did open up about ahead of Richmond. He also mentioned how he regretted having affected Larson’s race since he did not intend to run his friend up against the wall.

Denny Hamlin reveals when he decided to be more aggressive on the race track

In the media briefing, Hamlin was asked if there was a moment when he decided that he was being used up and had to start changing his racing style. Hamlin responded by stating, “Honestly, I think it was after the (Ross) Chastain thing for sure. Certainly, I was very vocal that I need to do something, I need to do something. At the time, the scales were like three to nothing.”

“I was very frustrated. My team was very frustrated at me for not doing anything. The mindset has just changed. You have to put it out there that you are going to be aggressive. I think if a guy is going to run into you, you are going to run right back into him.”

“That’s the way I’ve got to change things from this point forward because, for the most part, it has been tough results for us at the end of races, especially the last three years. I’ve been spun out of the lead three times. That’s really, really tough, so I just said it’s time to be more aggressive.”

Hamlin regrets that his win came at Kyle Larson’s expense

Speaking further, Hamlin admitted that he did not like the fact that his win came at the cost of Kyle Larson’s weekend, mentioning that he did not intend for that move to play out the way it actually did at Pocono.

He added, “Certainly, hate that it came at Kyle’s (Larson) expense, for sure. If there is anyone that I should protect, it’s those guys and my teammates. The win just met a lot to me at the time. I made an attempt to pass him, and it didn’t happen the way I intended for sure.”

It is refreshing to see Hamlin open up more about his psychology as a driver. Could he have raced Larson in a cleaner manner? Perhaps. Maybe, that is what he may have intended initially, and things turned out to be different while going into the corner.