Denny Hamlin wouldn’t have imagined that winning his 50th NASCAR Cup Series race would bring so much heat on him. He took his record 7th win at Pocono, but instead of getting appreciation from the fans, he received ‘booing’ while entering the victory lane. It’s his incident with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson that was the point of rejection for many.
And now that Hamlin has spoken up about the incident on his podcast, even his own fans seemed to have turned on him as they voiced their opinion about the way he won the race.
“You raced him dirty”, Denny Hamlin fans voiced out after his Pocono win
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On his podcast, The JGR driver tried to explain the incident from his perspective. He clarified how he still believes that he didn’t make any contact with the #5 of Kyle Larson.
“I still contest we did not touch,” said Hamlin. “I know it looks like it, but there’s not a ding on the car, not a scratch nowhere on the right side. So, from where I was sitting on the left, I mean I could not… If it was contact, I certainly didn’t feel it. It was so small that I certainly didn’t feel it in the car.”
“I saw the flaps go up, which happens whenever you get some low pressure… I guess there’s high pressure underneath the hood, which happens when you do get close to each other.”
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This triggered some of his fans to call him out for his move as they thoroughly shared their disappointment in how he got the win. Here are some of the spicy reactions to the comments made by Hamlin on the podcast.
A fan wrote, “As a fan of Denny since 2008, holy f**k he is making himself sound like an absolute idiot.”
“He’s wild for thinking that. Man, I’ve really gotten to like Denny lately. But this is one of those times he should have just said “I overcooked the corner and slid into him. I was racing for the win, and I guess he owes me one next time”, wrote another.
Here are some more fan reactions on Denny’s on-track move
“You raced him dirty, even your teammate Truex said it!”
“Is he living in the past? These cars ain’t the Gen 6. They don’t get scuffed up anymore. He sounds like an absolute idiot who knows nothing about the Gen 7”.
“Wow. He is basically the anti-Mark Martin. Similar career statistically but none of the integrity.”
“Why lie about it, Denny?? Why lie? Same thing you did to Chase in the 600 3 corner exits in a row til he hooked you & then you play victim.”
It’s clear that most of the fans in the NASCAR community see this as Denny Hamlin’s fault. But Kenny Wallace has a different opinion of the incident between #11 and #5. He posted a video on his YouTube channel where he shared his take on the incident.
Kenny Wallace sarcastically voices his opinion on Hamlin and Larson’s incident
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Kenny Wallace never shies away from speaking his heart out. He did so again, to defend Denny Hamlin’s position as he pointed out the new “air bubble” problem with the next-gen cars.
“Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson going for the win, last couple laps. What would you do to win a race?” said Kenny Wallace. “Well, I’d hold my Lane.” You think Earnhardt would hold his Lane? How many people has Dale Senior knocked out of the way to win a race?”
In a sarcastic tone, Kenny continued; “Now all of a sudden Denny Hamlin moved down and there was an air bubble here, and when Denny Hamlin got close to Kyle Larson, it pushed his air bubble and made Kyle Larson wreck. People, we got this new thing in NASCAR because of the next-gen car. It’s called an “air bubble.” He didn’t hit me, but there was air in between our cars and it blew my car into the wall, so it’s his fault because he got close to me.”
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He then goes on to talk about what wheel-to-wheel was like during his racing days. “My friends, I raced in an era where if they hit you in the butt and moved you out of the way, then you couldn’t catch them. That meant you deserved it. I raced in an era if you were going into the corner for the win. They were gonna knock the hell out of you.”
The NASCAR veteran spoke further about the similar incident that happened between Larson and Bubba Wallace last year. “Now if we go back last year, Bubba Wallace was on the outside of Kyle Larson. Kyle Larson doesn’t do anything wrong but remember that “air bubble,” the air bubble pushed Bubba Wallace into the wall. Same exact situation.”
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At this point, I am sure we all have seen many opinions on the incident. So what do you make of it? Was it really Hamlin’s fault, whether he made contact or pushed Larson’s air bubble to wreck him? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.