One of the biggest stories coming out of the race at Pocono Raceway was the incident between Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson and race winner Denny Hamlin. The duo had an on-track altercation, where Hamlin dove down the inside to gain the lead over Larson. However, while doing that, it looked like he pushed Larson wide into the wall coming out of the corner.
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Following the incident, Kyle Larson’s Crew Chief, Cliff Daniels, was asked how they would race Hamlin after his incident. He mentioned how it was on Kyle and Denny to decide since they were also really good friends off the race track. Although, he did point out that Larson may not be done with Hamlin after the altercation. So do we smell payback coming in a few races?
Hendrick Insider believes Kyle Larson might not be done with Denny Hamlin
Speaking to the press, Daniels stated, “That will be between Kyle and Denny to decide. I think that Kyle and Denny are right in saying that they’ve been friends for many years and their friendship off-track certainly means something. And then on track because of that friendship, you got to learn how to race each other with respect. If that isn’t the case then that’s on those two to figure out.”
“That’s not gonna be on me, that’s not gonna be Gabehart. That’s going to be strictly on Kyle and Denny. And how they handle themselves on track. I don’t wanna see anyone’s car get wrecked no matter what I think of what happened here…”
He further added, “I still don’t see any reason to go wreck race cars, I think we all know Kyle Larson well enough, he’s not going to do that. But certainly, if he thinks he needs to get some more respect to command his way then that’s something he’ll need to take care of.”
Kyle Larson says his friendship with Hamlin makes this incident awkward
It is a known fact that Larson and Hamlin are great friends off the track. Therefore after an altercation like that in Pocono, there’s surely going to be some degree of awkwardness between the two. Speaking with the media on pit road, Larson had mentioned how this incident made things a bit “sh***y and awkward.”
Larson stated, “We’re friends. Yes, this makes things sh***y and awkward. You know, whatever. He’s always right. All the buddies know Denny’s always right. I’m sure he was in the right there, as well. It is what it is. I’m not going to let it tarnish our friendship on track, but I am pissed. I feel like I should be pissed.”
Interestingly the HMS driver also mentioned that Denny would surely discuss this incident at great length on his upcoming podcast episode following the race. So once that happens, we’ll have a deeper perspective on how things looked like from Hamlin’s point of view.
