This season, Ty Gibbs has not exactly endeared himself to many drivers, as Sam Mayer can attest. At the recently concluded Cup race at the Texas Motor Speedway, he ticked off another driver. This time, it was Petty GMS Racing driver Ty Dillon and it was over an incident in the pit lane. Now, Cup veterans Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin noted the incident and dissected it.
It’s that way with restarts. Not sure why other incidents can’t be also.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 26, 2022
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As the two cars were exiting side-by-side, Gibbs clearly swerved towards Dillon and almost caused an accident. According to Harvick, such situations should be investigated during the race and given an appropriate penalty. He observed that Formula One does this kind of thing, so why can’t NASCAR do it.
How did Denny Hamlin respond to Harvick’s observation?
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In his reply, Hamlin pretty much proved that he was still mad about getting tagged by William Byron. The #11 driver mentioned restarts and how some questionable incidents occur during that phase. According to the NASCAR higher-ups, they were focused on one particular incident and they missed Byron tagging Hamlin.
Obviously, Hamlin was fuming, because he was in a good position to try and win the race. In the end, all that he could do was sit and rue what could have been. Had he won, he would have been the first Playoff driver to win a Playoff race this season. Eventually, Tyler Reddick emerged victorious at the Texas Motor Speedway. However, he has already been eliminated, along with Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.
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For now, Denny Hamlin will have to focus on his Cup Series campaign and avoid any drama. Of course, he can definitely do without getting dumped on the race track by other drivers. Aside from that, he cannot afford to get into any feud with his rivals, especially someone like Ross Chastain.
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