“Gave Nemechek a Squeeze”- Days After Controversial Kansas Win, Denny Hamlin Shuts Down Kyle Larson Critics

NASCAR is a sport of regular contact and crashes. Kyle Larson, as it turns out, is among the few drivers in NASCAR that do not shy away from them. In successive weeks, he has been involved in two such incidents. Most of it comes from his competitive nature and his interest in not giving away an inch on the track.

In the recent Xfinity Series race at the Darlington Speedway, Larson took the win at the track that has been difficult for him to conquer. But it was not an easy win for him as he had to shrug off a challenge from current points leader John Hunter Nemechek. En route to victory, a little hassle between Nemechek and Larson emerged which saw Nemechek spin and slide into the fence in an unfortunate manner. Amid this, Larson’s Cup Series rival, Denny Hamlin, has come to the rescue as he addresses the questions directed at Larson’s intentions over the maneuver.

Denny Hamlin stands behind Kyle Larson, calls the controversial move ‘fair’

Hamlin has his fair share of such incidents. The most recent one involved Larson himself at Kansas as Hamlin raced him to the chequered. Talking to co-host Jared Allen on a recent episode of ‘Actions Detrimental’, Hamlin explains the incident. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver talks about different perspectives around the crash.

“He gave Nemechek a little bit of a squeeze play down the back straight away. I know some people on  social media talking about it was fair or not. You know I think, it was [fair] but I guess it depends on your perspective certainly.”

He takes the chance to draw a comparison with the Kansas move that he made. He said, “I felt that my move was fair last week. You know Kyle was kinda out of shape and I certainly wasn’t gonna lift on the last lap.”

Further, he gives us some details about Larson’s possible course of actions. He adds, “So Kyle was I think just trying to use all the entry he could and he could kind of force Nemechek to just check up. Just a little bit to squeeze him on the entry and then he was gonna be able to clear him, which he did. But Nemechek instantly went down and kind of ‘here let me grab your right rear and help you get up the race track’. So we saw a great finish there.”

Hamlin’s statements give us some insight into what happens in such close situations. From a driver’s perspective, having to make a quick decision when in a fix certainly sounds tough.

Read More: Ross Chastain’s Pit Crew Under Fire as “Petty” Act Against Kyle Larson Comes to Light

The JGR veteran explained how Kyle Larson got the better of John Hunter Nemechek

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Denny is one of the most experience drivers in the top flight of NASCAR. Having seen multiple divisions, he knows about the proceedings and the style adopted in them. Reminiscing about a conversation with the Hendrick Motorsports driver about the drivers’ approach in the Xfinity Series, he said, “You know, I was talking to Kyle before the cup intros, and he was like I couldn’t believe none of the Xfinity drivers are running a wide entry at 1. That was something I started doing 10-12 years ago, and now every driver does it, but it’s just… You get huge runs through the middle of turns 1 and 2 when you want a high entry.”

It is evident that the drivers in Xfinity have a different style than Cup Series drivers. The #11 driver further explains what went wrong in Nemechek’s ideation of the conditions at Darlington.

“So, because you’re searching for a colder pavement, you’re searching for where’s the part of the racetrack where I can run that doesn’t have rubber laid down on it because there’s more grip. So I saw Kyle just really getting high on the entry at 1 and Nemechek just staying low. He’s just given way too much air up top there. And that allowed Kyle to kind of rear him in.”

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Small observations like these make drivers like Larson and Hamlin what they are. A cumulation of experience and knowledge gives them the edge over other drivers on the track. It is certainly good to see Hamlin come in defense of Larson, especially after the Kansas controversy.