RICHMOND, Va.: Denny Hamlin’s post-race comments from Pocono Raceway — and throughout this past week—did nothing to assuage the healing process between him and Kyle Larson.
From insisting there was no contact with the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet while battling for the lead to multiple claims of Larson offering mea culpas after roughing him up on road courses, Hamlin just created a greater chasm.
In expressing his side of the situation, Hamlin showed little remorse on Saturday.
“There is always going to be a difference of opinion, and sometimes you have to agree to disagree,” Hamlin said. “That’s okay, but the biggest thing is I think hearing the other person out and understanding why they are frustrated.
“Sometimes you get caught up in your own world, thinking about your own team and how important it is to them, and you have an incident like that, you need to sit down and take a second to hear the other side. I totally understand that for sure. On why I wanted to (discuss) it in person, I did because I thought that we should have that type of relationship.”
While Larson might be the most laid-back racer in the Cup garage, everyone has their limits. That the majority of his NASCAR run-ins were compliments of Hamlin, and given that a win had slipped through his fingers fueled Larson’s frustration.
“I didn’t have an option,” Larson said of the latest incident. “I did lift. I still hit the wall.
“I get over things pretty quickly, so I’m sure I’ll get over this…over time.”
But that time is not this weekend at Richmond Raceway. There’s too much at stake with the Playoffs on the line and both drivers securely locked into the top 10. Hamlin is 55 points out of first place. Larson’s deficit is precisely double that.
Still, Larson is the most recent winner at Richmond. The 2021 Cup champion holds the fifth-best average finish on short tracks—10.5. A win on Sunday would place him back in the hunt. He rolls off 14th in the Cook Out 400. Rather than dwell on Pocono, Larson would rather find speed for Sunday.
Hamlin finished 20th here in the spring. The Chesterfield, Va., native won here at his home track in April of 2022—his fourth victory on the .75-mile oval. While he’s considered a favorite entering this weekend’s Cup race, Hamlin hasn’t won back-to-back races since 2012. He’ll start third on Sunday.
Along with the new car being bulletproof, along with the drivers being more aggressive, Hamlin feels the current point system promotes the level of aggression that exists in NASCAR’s top series. Larson doesn’t disagree.
“It also makes the guys on the receiving end more mad as well just because of what’s at stake and what’s taken.”
Larson isn’t professing to be a saint. He’s certainly had moments where he’s used his position on the track—and the accompanying aerodynamics—to his advantage. He regrets the situation that occurred between him and Bubba Wallace at Las Vegas last fall. Larson even advocated with the sanctioning body not to suspend Wallace for the retaliation because he felt responsible for the incident.
Still, in other situations, such as racing Kyle Busch for the lead at World Wide Technology Raceway last month, it was with the utmost respect. If the roles had been reversed, with Larson on the inside and Hamlin on the outside at Pocono, it would have been no different.
“I respect Kyle and that’s why I raced him with respect at Gateway,” Larson said. “And I respect Denny every bit as much, if not more, or I did. So I I don’t think I would have raced any differently than I did at Gateway. I think if roles were reversed going forward, it will probably look a little different.
“I don’t think you can’t ever predict how things play out, but I know what to expect racing around him, and I hope he can expect the same in return.”
Coming from open-wheel racing, trading paint and rubbing fenders was never an acceptable option for Larson. The margin for error is thin whether racing midgets or sprints. Contact between competitors will likely send one driver or both to the work area.
“I can’t think of a time in a sprint car race where I was put in the fence while racing for the lead late in the race,” Larson said. “Things like that happen a lot less because it’s open wheel and you’ve got a chance of crashing yourself every bit as much as crashing the guy outside of you. So I don’t. Yes, you see it happen here and there, but rarely do you see it much.”
Does Larson feel like he’ll have to adapt his racing style to conform to the current style of competition in Cup?
“I feel like I am aggressive already, but I try to race with respect,” Larson said. “Don’t get me wrong, I know I’ve made my mistakes and have ran people into the wall, made my fair share of things. But I’ve been in the Cup series for nine or 10 years now, and, yeah, the racing is different. Now the cars are different. So, yeah, you have to adapt.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
