Race fans saw a side of Kyle Larson they hadn’t witnessed in a long time at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. His spotter Tyler Monn criticized him for allowing Denny Hamlin to squeeze him up the track and the Hendrick Motorsports star was not happy to hear it. He retorted with a “Shut the f*** up” and there seemed to be a lot of tension between the two individuals.
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On a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft said that it was not that big a deal. He and Wallace have bantered each other several times during a race so he knows what it was like. However, Kraft acknowledged that this particular exchange sounded a lot more serious than what he was used to with his driver.
“You can’t take it to heart but I’ll tell you what, this did not have the playful shut the f*** up response. This sounded like it touched a nerve somewhere and maybe it touched a nerve because Kyle knows Tyler might be a little right,” he said.
Was Kyle Lasron's response to his spotter friendly banter or actual frustration? 😬 pic.twitter.com/ddlUMwlBRW
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) June 24, 2024
Hamlin’s aggressive driving was the reason why Larson and his spotter had that heated exchange. However, as far as the Joe Gibbs Racing star was concerned, it was just hard racing.
Denny Hamlin explains squeezing Kyle Larson at Loudon
Once the rain started pouring at Loudon, nobody knew if NASCAR would run the race to the end or call it off early. Hamlin, who was running in the front of the pack, wanted to challenge Larson for the win before the red flag fell. The 2021 Cup Series Champion, in an attempt to stop his rival, made contact with Hamlin first but the #11 driver had no time for that.
“I don’t have time to be screwing with you here. I got to get clear. You’re not going to hold me off, which means you’re not going to win the race. We just won’t give each other an inch to clear. And then off of Turn 4 the next lap, I run him up because I’m like ‘F*** this, dude. I gotta go.” Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
These two drivers have had their run-ins several times in the past. While there is a healthy respect off the track, they are fierce rivals on it. It will be interesting to see how the next chapter of this rivalry unfolds as we head to Nashville this weekend.
