Denny Hamlin made an aggressive move at Pocono Raceway to get around Kyle Larson and hold off the rest of the pack to win the race on Sunday, but not everyone was pleased with the pass.
As Hamlin was met with boos and middle fingers from the fans in Pennsylvania, NBC NASCAR analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the No. 11’s pass “dirty.”
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Dale Earnhardt Jr criticized Denny Hamlin’s pass of Kyle Larson. (Getty Images/IMAGN)
“Denny gets position in the middle of the corner. Larson missed the corner, didn’t get through the corner as well. Denny gets wheel-to-wheel mid corner,” Earnhardt said on the latest “Dale Jr. Download” podcast. “He makes a decision in that moment to throttle up and drive up the racetrack and door the hell out of the No. 5. There’s contact, he’s coming up the track.
“I agree that it was a dirty move to door him. To throttle up and door him, but it’s for the win. It’s not how you would expect friends to race friends.”
The replay of Hamlin sliding up the track and pinning Larson into the wall did not appear to show contact. However, the No. 5 driver said on his show that he believes Hamlin hit him.
AUSTIN DILLON CHUCKS HELMET AT TYLER REDDICK AFTER CRASH AT POCONO
Dale Earnhardt Jr. before the Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course July 31, 2022 in Indianapolis. (Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports)
“He did hit me,” Larson insisted. “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.”
Hamlin said after the race he did not touch Larson. He reiterated the notion on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast on Monday.
“I still contest we did not touch. I know it looks like it, but there’s not a ding on the car, not a scratch — nowhere on the right side,” Hamlin said. “If there was contact, I certainly didn’t feel it.”
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said on Tuesday there were no punishments expected from any of the incidents at Pocono.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson walks on pit road during practice and qualifying for the HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, July 22, 2023. (Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports)
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The NASCAR Cup Series drives onto Richmond on Sunday.
