Denny Hamlin will go back to the track where he earned his 50th NASCAR Cup Series win on Sunday. Pocono Raceway is one of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s strongest tracks. However, the way he raced Kyle Larson on his way to claim the chequered, the HMS driver wished that Hamlin could have been more respectful.
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In the last few laps of the event, the #11 car went down the inside of Larson. The latter ran out of room and went into the wall as his rival held the middle lane. The 2021 Cup Series champion believed that he was used up and forced into the wall by Hamlin.
"Denny's always right."
Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are back at Pocono after last year's tangle. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/fStRlpttAC
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 9, 2024
The crowd agreed with him as they booed the 43-year-old the moment he got out of his car. However, it never affected the JGR racer. “I love it. They can boo my rock out of here in a few years,” he told USA Today. For Larson though, it was a big disappointment as he missed out on a third race win of the season.
“I feel like I deserve to be raced with respect at least through turn 1. But he knew that was going to be his only opportunity to beat me, you know how bad the dirty air was. I got used up,” the HMS driver said after the race.
Hamlin was unapologetic about the Larson incident at Pocono
Hamlin, however, does not believe that he did anything to send Larson into the wall. It was just hard racing as far as the #11 driver was concerned. From his point of view, there was no contact between the cars. All the JGR star did was hold on to the middle lane and Larson just ran out of room.
“I’m not here to defend anything. How can you wreck someone you don’t touch? Damn, man, we’re all racing for a win and I guarantee you, roles reversed, it goes the same way,” he said.
It will be interesting to see how Hamlin and Larson run at Pocono this time around. Both haven’t won a race in a while and will be looking to get some form back before the playoffs get underway.
