The 75th NASCAR season turned out to be a remarkable one for Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver, Denny Hamlin. Not only he, but all the JGR cars displayed impressive speed, with Martin Truex Jr and Christopher Bell not as far behind Hamlin. However, the No. 11 Toyota Camry driver, eager for his first win of the season, finally secured a victory with some celebratory burnouts at Pocono.
Denny Hamlin received controversy along with race-winning wishes as his last move toward Kyle Larson became a topic of conversation for many. Some believed Hamlin was at fault and intentionally caused a wreck, while others supported Larson, considering Hamlin guilty.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mike Davis initiated the discussion, and Dale Jr. pointed out a similar incident from the previous year involving Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin. In that instance, Hamlin made a move on Chastain midway through the corner, with Chastain on the outside. A comparable situation occurred when Denny and Larson found themselves in turn 2 this year at Pocono.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr Backs Denny Hamlin
After Alex Bowman made hard contact with the wall when he was running into third position and Denny Hamlin behind him, his crash forced NASCAR to raise the 9th caution flag of the race.
After the restart, Kyle Larson was leading from outside and Truex from inside and Denny was behind Larson fighting for the lead. However, during turn one, Larson and Hamlin found themselves P1 and P2 as they approached turn 2 Hamlin found himself at the inside and mid-way to the track trying to block Larson at the same time pushing his throttle up for a lead.
But, a slight contact pushed Larson into the outside wall leading him go gradually lost his speed as well as his valuable position. Dale Earnhardt called Hamlin’s move a “Dirty Move” as he said on his podcast,
“So I agree that it was an uh you know dirty move, yeah I agree it was a dirty move to door him to throttle up and just door him but it’s for the win you know it’s not how you would expect friends to race friends, but maybe that friendship which I’ve seen this I’ve been part of this on the race track when you got buddies you use them up”
In a post-race interview, Kyle Larson opened up about his relationship with Denny Hamlin, admitting that they have been involved in crashes on multiple occasions. Despite these incidents, Larson still considered Hamlin a friend.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded to Larson’s comments by drawing parallels to his own experiences with his famous rival, Matt Kenseth. Dale specifically highlighted an incident at Michigan where, due to a crash involving Kenseth, Dale finished in 12th place
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On numerous occasions, fans have observed Denny Hamlin expressing his frustrations, often directing his complaints toward his own team or other times to his fellow drivers.
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One such incident occurred during the Coke 600, where he raised questions after a crash involving Chase Elliott. As a result of Hamlin’s strong demands, Elliott was suspended for one race. Additionally, during the Sonoma race, Denny found himself involved in a crash with the inside wall, further adding to his list of grievances.
Throughout his career, there have been several instances where Hamlin pointed the blame toward his own team for various issues and setbacks on the track. Dale Earnhardt Jr candidly stated on his podcast to address his transformation from a complainer into a champion,
“For the last 2 and 1/2 years, or however long, Denny’s been getting run over and crying about it and not doing nothing, he is sorta changed a little bit.”
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However, Denny attracted controversies towards him after Pocono only time will tell how these raised questions going to affect the #11 team for upcoming races and top of all into playoffs. How was the move in terms of your perspective?