May 7th, AdventHealth 400, Kansas Speedway: The Toyotas looked better as Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, and the 23XI Racing drivers showed remarkable speed. But, Rick Hendrick’s men were not far behind either. They did great pit stops and were able to make their drivers come to the front row. Unfortunately, Denny Hamlin made a mistake during a pit stop as he overrode his car and his crew has to spend extra seconds on his car. Ultimately, Hamlin lost five places.
He later regained ground and passed William Byron for P2, only to trail Larson for the final 26 laps. It was a final lap showdown and the Hendrick Motorsports ace was being aggressively challenged by Hamlin. In the final few seconds, #11 almost cleared #5 from inside, but #5 got the lead back. Just as they entered turn 3, Hamlin nudged Larson’s rear, enough for the latter to bump into the wall. Though Larson recovered exceptionally well, there was no way he could stop the wily Hamlin from ending his 33-race winless drought.
The scenario was once again somewhat the same at Pocono. Once again, the two found each other bumper to bumper, and once again Larson was at the receiving end as Hamlin took home another checkered. However, this time the controversy blew up, and polarizing debates have been raging on for a week. Now, the Vice President of Hendrick Motorsports joins the party.
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Chad Knaus reveals his secret move from the fiasco
Jimmie Johnson’s former crew chief and Hendrick Motorsports’ Vice president of Competition is a person of measured words. Throughout the week, he tried to stay away from the heated fiasco between the two highly accomplished drivers, keeping his responses short.
Recently, in an episode of NASCAR Race Hub, Chad Knaus appeared as a guest analyst. and discussed the wreck. Suddenly the host handed over a question regarding the wreck and Knaus humorously accepted his failed attempt of staying away from the debacle. He said,
“That’s why I came in on Thursday just so you guys know so that I was like, ‘surely we won’t be talking about that again.’”
However, HMS’s VP mentioned that though such incidents make for exciting races, at the same time, he feels unfortunate about Kyle Larson and HMS that they missed the opportunity to clear the checkered flag first. He also predicted that there is more action coming up as we are approaching the highly anticipated venues of Indianapolis, Richmond, Watkins Glen, and Daytona.
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After the race, a visibly frustrated Larson did not mince his words in expressing his feelings about Hamlin. Though the two are friends off the track, Larson implied that Hamlin will come up with a reason for the incident; he might even offer apologies. But it is not the first time he has pulled off a stunt like this, and it will not be the last.
Veteran spotter Freddie Kraft too shared his take on the incident and its aftermath. He is among those who believe that Kyle Larson has to do something against those wrecks otherwise they will keep happening to him. Comparing the incidents in Kansas and Pocono, Kraft said, “This is inevitably going to come back. Kyle can’t just keep letting this happen. Don’t compare this to Kansas because it’s not the same. Denny you know, at Kansas I think Kyle got the fence with Denny up his a** and then you know they made more contact after that. But that was not the same as this.”
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Hamlin has called it a typical racing incident but his detractors remember how he took revenge on Ross Chastain earlier this year. Should Larson look to do the same? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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