“He Used Me Up” – Martin Truex Jr Left Fuming After Denny Hamlin Ruins His Dominant Performance at Richmond

After a winless run in the first few races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, Denny Hamlin has now won 2 of the last 3 races. However, his latest one might have come at the expense of his relationship with teammate Martin Truex Jr. The 2017 Cup Series champion led a whopping 228 laps at Richmond Raceway on Sunday but a late Kyle Larson spin brought out the caution. On the final green flag, it seemed like Hamlin had jumped the restart and used his teammate to slingshot around the first turn, going far enough for anyone to catch up.

Martin Truex Jr and Denny Hamlin will have a lot to talk 

NASCAR fans witnessed a side of Martin Truex Jr that had not come out in years as he expressed his frustrations by bumping into both Larson and Hamlin after the checkered flag fell. In the post-race interview, the driver of the #19 car cut a dejected figure as he slammed the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver for gaining an advantage through questionable racing tactics. Things certainly were tense in the JGR garage as Denny Hamlin did his burnouts to celebrate his 53rd Cup Series race win.

“Yeah I mean it’s unfortunate. This has happened here a few times over the years so…we were in a great spot and had a great Camry all night long and the guys did a really good job just to compete out of the pits and then got…I don’t know. He jumped the start and then used me up in turn 1 so…definitely sucks but…good solid day, another car capable of winning so we’ll have to come back next week, try to get them again,” the driver of the #19 car said.

Had the two drivers been close to each other after turn 1 of the final restart, Martin Truex Jr would have probably wrecked Denny Hamlin but since the #11 was too far ahead, he vented his frustrations out on the nearest possible car. In this case, it was Kyle Larson.

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The #19 driver’s frustration was understandable. In total, he has led 1539 laps in Richmond and 228 of them were on Sunday, making him the driver with the most laps led at the track. He must have believed he was getting his fourth Cup win at the venue but it all went wrong in the end. Kyle Larson understands that and has no hard feelings despite their on-track scrapping.

“He (Truex) was mad that the #11 used him up on the restart. That’s where it really started. Then the #22 got to his inside one too, I got in behind the #22 and he just turned left, crossed my nose, and had me up on the apron at 2. I don’t know if he thought that I just piled it in there but then he door slammed me down the middle of the backstretch so I just figured in 3 and 4 I was getting used up a little bit. I think he just…he’s more mad at Denny but I was the closest one to take his anger out on,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said.

It will be interesting to see how Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr interact later on. The next episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast sure is gonna be one hell of a listen. Do you think the #11 driver did something wrong or was it just a case of good hard racing getting under the skin of the guy failing to win? Let us know your thoughts.

Read More – Hometown Hero Denny Hamlin Wins Richmond, Capitalizing on Frenemy Martin Truex Jr’s Misery