Steve Letarte Hails “Selfish” Denny Hamlin for Preserving the Best Aspect of NASCAR

Many criticized Denny Hamlin for the way he raced Bubba Wallace, driver of the 23XI team that Hamlin owns. Hamlin, charging from the front row, swept both opening stages and led 159 out of 273 laps before clashing with Wallace in the late-race scramble in Kansas.

After the incident, Wallace’s bid for a win to seal his progress into the Round of 8 slipped away. And so the complaints against Hamlin were pretty valid.

However, many have praised the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, too, including Steve Letarte, who argued that the aggression was exactly what kept fans on the edge of their seats.

Much like Kyle Petty did a few days ago, Letarte, a former crew chief, tipped his cap to the No. 11 driver for chasing his 60th Cup win with single-minded determination.

“We saw people race each other… Hamlin gets shot out of a cannon; he thinks he has to go, right? That’s what I think is the beauty of this restart is Denny Hamlin is not thinking about his team cars. The 19 tries to get the outside of the 20. There were so many examples of selfish race car drivers,” said Letarte.

“And I said it on the broadcast, and I’ll say it again: I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of coworkers go into the Hall of Fame, and not one time did they say, X amount of wins, but this many times they push the teammate to the win… I like selfish, respect when you aren’t having the best day, but when you’re having a great day right here, Denny Hamlin is thinking about win 60 and only win 60,” added the former crew chief.

Letarte acknowledged that Hamlin might have regretted shutting out both Toyotas and opening the door for a Chevrolet. But he insisted that fans should celebrate the hard-nosed charge the No. 11 made into Turn 3. Because the day Hamlin eases off and lets the 23 by on purpose, he warned, is the day fans would leave disappointed.

“Racing holds true, it was beautiful. The trophy mattered the most,” Letarte concluded, presenting a sentiment that most former drivers in the sport would echo. Like Petty said, his “I, I, I” mentality is what makes him so special.