Denny Hamlin earns controversial, record-breaking win at Pocono Raceway
Denny Hamlin is once again in victory lane at Pocono Raceway, but this is perhaps his most controversial win after what happened on the track. On the second to last restart of the race, Hamlin pushed Larson up into the wall. It was much like what he did to Ross Chastain a year ago. NASCAR fans at the track were not pleased.
If you ever wanted to hear Denny Hamlin get booed, then this is the postrace coverage for you. Denny Hamlin and his team had a great strategy. They were in the top-10 and top-5 for most of the day. Pit stops were great, Hamlin was solid. That restart just didn’t sit right with fans, or Kyle Petty.
Say what you will, Hamlin is now the all-time wins leader at Pocono Raceway. This is his seventh Tricky Triangle checkered flag. Of course, he had last year’s win taken away after a DQ.
These boos were deafening, though.
This wasn’t just the record-breaking seventh win, it was more than that for Denny Hamlin. This was win 50 for his Cup Series career and win 600 for Toyota in all three NASCAR national series. So, you can understand why he would race so aggressively. However, there is a point where it isn’t exactly excusable.
It was awkward listening to the NBC booth talk about the Hamlin-Larson incident afterward. They could tell what went down and it wasn’t a good look for the No. 11 driver. Kyle Petty basically said the move cheapened the importance of the victory.
Denny Hamlin hits back at fans
Amid the boos and the jeers against Denny Hamlin, as he got out of his car, he showed little remorse. When asked about Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson after the race and how they ended up either spinning out or hitting the wall, Hamlin remained confident he did nothing wrong.
“Both guys wrecked themselves. He missed the corner first and, evidently, he didn’t have his right tires clean. When he gassed up, just kept going again,” Hamlin said. “You have an option in those positions to either hold it wide open and hit the fence or lift and race it out. But those are choices they made. I didn’t hit either one of them, didn’t touch them.”
Of course, no one thought Hamlin would apologize or feel bad for his actions. He soaked it all in, taking in every boo and harsh word against him for a couple of minutes.
“I love it, I love it,” Hamlin said about the fans. “They can boo my rock out here in a few years.”
That is a nod to the rocks that Pocono puts out for legendary drivers. With his seven wins at the track, he’s probably right about getting one.