Denny Hamlin certainly stirred up the discourse in the NASCAR community with his move on Kyle Larson last weekend at Pocono. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, on the one side, was criticized for his move. On the other, some claimed it was just what a driver has to do to win. Of course, Hamlin is of the latter opinion, that he just did what he had to do to win the race.
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But a week from Pocono, Hamlin further extended the realm of his explanations regarding the incident with Larson. The #11 driver, as he sort of mentioned a few days ago, once again pointed in the direction of the Next Gen car, ‘the system’, and the way the sport is today.
Hamlin even went on to mention Mark Martin in his reasoning, claiming even someone like him will have to rethink his style.
Denny Hamlin claims the days of gentleman racecar drivers are over
Ahead of the race at Richmond Raceway, Hamlin was asked during a press conference whether he had to change his style of driving and be more selfish considering the system and the Next Gen car. “I think it’s just different now. The cars are closer together. Passing is more difficult than it’s ever been,” he replied.
Hamlin continued, “Even Mark Martin would have to adjust his style in this type of car because the days of the gentleman letting the guys go and you will just go and get them later. It’s just a different game these days. I wish we could go back to those days, but that is not where we are at. You have to adapt to where you are at. You adapt or you die.”
“Certainly, I feel like over the last few years, I’ve decided to be more aggressive because I’ve got used up by aggressive and it is hard to blame them at the time, especially in a race-winning situation. Certainly, you are upset when someone right rear hooks you or runs right in the back of you in stage one and spins you out, and puts you in the wall. That’s one thing, racing for the win is certainly a lot different than it has been in the past.”
Hamlin insists aggressiveness on the racetrack will get you to Victory Lane
Further explaining his point, Hamlin claimed that between a driver who is aggressive and one who isn’t, it’s going to be the aggressive one who will “win every time.” This was something Hamlin added are just facts of the situation.
“Usually, you are not going to find two guys that are the nice guy at the end of these races anymore. Someone has to take it the next level to want it, and then if you have two guys that really want it, you have what you had at Darlington where this person is squeezed, well next restart, now that person is squeezed,” he described.
Hamlin added that this is just what happens, that he is adamant that in a situation, the fans are the ones who win ultimately, and that is when they get to see the action and the passion they signed up for.
