Kyle Larson responds to Denny Hamlin denying contact at Pocono
Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin each have their own personal podcasts where they often recap races and the biggest stories in the NASCAR Cup Series each week.
Given what occurred during Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway, in which Hamlin appeared to run Larson into the wall with seven laps remaining to take the lead and secure his 50th-career Cup Series victory, you could say anticipation was high to hear what both had to say.
Hamlin got the ball rolling during his “Actions Detrimental” podcast Monday, insisting he didn’t make contact with Larson as he executed the pass.
“I still contest we did not touch,” Hamlin said. “I know it looks like it, but there’s not a ding on the car, not a scratch nowhere on the right side. So from where I was sitting on the left, I mean, I could not, if it was contact, I certainly didn’t feel it. It was so small that I certainly didn’t feel it in the car. I saw the flaps go up, which happens whenever you get some low pressure, I guess there’s high pressure underneath the hood, which happens when you do get close to each other.”
Larson, who raced his No. 5 Chevy to a P5 finish, responded on his “High Limit Room” podcast. Suffice to say, the 2021 Cup Series champion felt a bit differently than Hamlin.
“He did hit me,” Larson said, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “I know he says he didn’t, but the replays clearly show he makes contact with me and then my car shoots up the racetrack.”
Martin Truex Jr. calls Denny Hamlin’s move on Kyle Larson ‘dirty’ after Pocono
Hamlin’s late-race move made him the most unpopular man in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, as the sold-out crowd proceeded to boo him as he took the checkered flag. He later caught some criticism from his own Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr. According to Truex Jr., he could have made that move, but didn’t.
“When I was running third, I picked the outside behind the 5 [Larson] and it got me to second,” Truex Jr. told NASCAR SiriusXM Radio. “I felt like if I just did that again, I was going to run second to him. So I picked the front row and I didn’t get the push I needed and I fell back again and I had to fight my way back. I don’t know, for whatever reason we couldn’t get the push we needed on the front row but we pushed a lot of guys today forward and whoever was the leader if they were in front of me they were going to keep the lead you know what I mean?
“I’m not exactly sure what that was all about but I feel like I picked the right lanes and I did exactly what Denny did besides running through – pushing the 5 car too deep in the corner and run him in the fence off of [Turn] 2. You know he kinda took it that extra little bit I guess to make it a little bit dirty and you know I didn’t so maybe that’s the difference why he won and I didn’t.”