Martin Truex Jr’s Insider Shuts Down Kyle Petty’s “BS” Accusations After Denny Hamlin Trickery

Martin Truex Jr was within a lap and a half away from securing his first win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season at the night race in Richmond. However, a late caution followed by an overtime restart saw the win slip away from Truex’s hand.

Despite leading over 200 laps, the veteran JGR driver could not make the final push in overtime. He was still in contention for winning the race with the final restart coming up, but Denny Hamlin got the better of him with a quick dash and held him off to bag his second win of the season. There were questions regarding Hamlin’s restart tactics, and Truex Jr brought this up in the post-race interview.

This soon became a hot topic among the community, with everyone sharing their opinions and views. Sharing his views on the matter, Kyle Petty termed Truex’s complaints as “BS” and stated that complaints from the #19 team camp were unjustified. Joining in, the crew chief of the #19 car, James Small, has backed his driver’s claims that Hamlin pushed him off the racetrack and jumped the restart.

James Small backs Martin Truex’s claims of being hard done by his teammate Denny Hamlin

Despite the late caution in the race and the race going into overtime, Truex still had a shot at clinching the victory at Richmond. However, before making the final push in the last two laps, all drivers pitted, trying to get fresh tires. This is where Hamlin’s pit crew pulled off a miracle by clocking the fastest stop and helping him jump two positions for the restart. This completely turned the race on its head, and Hamlin held off his teammate, bagging a dramatic win at Richmond.

However, this result and move were not taken well by Truex’s crew chief, James Small, who highlighted that Hamlin’s questionable move cost his team the race. “Ultimately, we just lost it on pit road, they beat us off, and obviously, we lost the start. To me, it looked like Denny jumped the start there by quite a lot and then kind of ran us off the track. So obviously, Martin’s pretty pi**ed off as he should be.”

He continued, “Just trying to be better on pit road. They had a really good night, one of the best nights, and at the end, when it mattered, it kind of fell apart a little bit… Yeah, plenty more races left, so we’ll keep fighting.”

Despite the win at Richmond, people were keen to know Hamlin’s take on whether or not he jumped the restart, and he responded to these accusations on his podcast show.

Denny Hamlin thinks Joey Logano dictated the restart

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Joey Logano was the closest to closing the gap on Martin Truex Jr ahead of the caution. Going into the restart, Hamlin had to battle out on two fronts, on his side from Truex as well as on his back from Joey Logano. Had he not been quick on the restart and taken his opponent by his surprise move, he could have lost his precious lead, which he gained on the pit road.

“I’m looking in the mirror to see how close is the car behind me, and clearly Joey is laying back. At that point, I’m thinking in my head that I’m not going to let him roll to me, and then, as soon as the gap closes, take off, then he’s got the advantage. He’s going to be pushing me and pull out of the line. He dictates the restart, not me,” Hamlin said.

Looking at it from Hamlin’s perspective, he did what he needed to clinch the win. While there are complaints regarding his tricky restart tactics, the NASCAR officials seem to have let him off the hook this time.

Read More: Denny Hamlin Confesses to Jumping the Restart at Richmond, but There’s a Catch