Denny Hamlin, the grizzled veteran who’s no stranger to stirring the pot—or squeezing a rival into the wall when it counts. Flashback to Kansas 2023: Hamlin, with ice in his veins, pinned Kyle Larson against the concrete in a do-or-die move that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Fans cheered, critics jeered, but Hamlin? He just shrugged and kept racing.
Atlanta Motor Speedway just served up a piping-hot plate of late-race chaos, and Denny Hamlin’s got the juiciest take on it all. The air was electric, the stakes were sky-high, and with victory in sight, Kyle Larson made a move that’ll be replayed on highlight reels—and debated in bars—for weeks. But when the smoke cleared, it wasn’t just Larson’s gamble that had tongues wagging; it was Hamlin’s shameless defense of his track twin that stole the show.
Denny finds Larson’s actions rational at Atlanta
The closing laps at Atlanta, engines roaring like lions, and Larson, hungry for the win, decides to “clear himself” in front of Austin Cindric. Spoiler alert: he wasn’t clear. Not by a long shot. Cindric’s blunt “Not clear” over the radio said it all as the two tangled, spinning dreams into wreckage and leaving Roger Penske’s Atlanta ambitions in tatters. It was superspeedway racing at its rawest—beautiful, brutal, and oh-so-controversial. So when Hamlin stepped up to dissect this Atlanta mess, his words carried the weight of a man who’s been there, done that, and probably got the T-shirt.
“Yeah, um, Kyle cleared himself up,” Hamlin said with a smirk, before dropping the hammer: “He was definitely not clear.” No sugarcoating it—Larson screwed up. But then came the twist. “Let me defend Kyle a little bit,” Hamlin offered, and you could almost hear the NASCAR faithful leaning in. “It’s his fault. No doubt about it. But…” And there it was—the “but” that turned this into a masterclass in racing psychology. Hamlin painted the scene: you’re flying off Turn 2, a car’s glued to your right rear, and you mash the throttle. The air dumps on your spoiler, your car snaps right, and suddenly, you’re not just racing—you’re surviving. For a guy who has been critical of Next-Gen cars, knows all the tricks a driver could use against their opponent.
“It’s still your job to lift,” he admitted, reflecting on his own Kansas glory. “I chose not to lift. Kyle chose not to lift also.” It’s the unspoken code of the aggressors: when the win’s on the line, you roll the dice and damn the consequences. Poor Austin Cindric, though—he’s the one who paid the price. With less than 10 laps to go, he was in the hunt, clawing his way toward a breakthrough win. Instead, he got Larson’s bumper and a one-way ticket to Disappointment City.
NASCAR, Motorsport, USA AdventHealth 400 May 7, 2023 Kansas City, Kansas, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin 11 attempts to take the lead from driver Kyle Larson 5 during the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Kansas City Kansas Speedway Kansas USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMikexDinovox 20230507_mcd_ad4_89
Hamlin felt for him—“It sucked for Cindric, for sure”—and it stung even worse for Team Penske. Joey Logano was mired in traffic, Ryan Blaney was charging from the back like a superhero, but Cindric? He was their golden ticket—until Larson’s move turned it to ash. Yet Hamlin couldn’t help but tip his cap to Cindric and Blaney’s raw speed. “Those two just seemed to overcome whatever,” he marveled, and you can bet he filed that away for next time. Because that’s the game at places like Atlanta: it’s a high-wire act where aggression can crown you king or send you crashing.
So here’s the kicker—Hamlin knows Larson was wrong, but he gets it. He’s lived it. And when the next inevitable wreck sparks the next inevitable debate, you can bet Hamlin will be right there, ready to call it like he sees it—or maybe just defend the next guy bold enough to risk it all. That’s racing, folks, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Denny Hamlin is used to NASCAR wrecks and cautions
NASCAR’s Ambetter Health 400 was a rollercoaster of horsepower and heartbreak, and when the final lap erupted into chaos, it left fans buzzing and drivers licking their wounds. Denny Hamlin—2024’s regular-season hero and resident truth-teller—who unpacked the madness on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, with a mix of candor and a sly grin.
The crash? A gut punch. It snatched a potential top finish from Hamlin’s grasp and left the field scrambling. But blame? Hamlin’s not pointing fingers. “It stinks it ends that way, but nobody made us crash each other. It just… happened!” he said, shrugging off the chaos like a seasoned pro. “Close your eyes, picture it: the caution light flips on, and bam, there’s an invisible start-finish line. We *did* have a three-wide finish—just in a secret spot!”
Then there’s the elephant in the room: NASCAR’s caution call. Fans have been roasting the decision, crying for green-flag glory, but Hamlin’s got no time for that noise. “Only 36 people want that caution—us drivers,” he quipped. “Millions of you yell, ‘Let it run!’ But trust me, you can’t. Someone—maybe your favorite driver—could get seriously hurt.” It’s a rare peek behind the curtain: while we’re glued to the drama, Hamlin’s crew knows the stakes are life or death. Safety trumps spectacle, he insists. “Keep it green, and someone’s getting wrecked—bad,” he warned, his tone firm but not preachy. The race had to end under yellow, and Hamlin’s cool with it.
For all the what-ifs, he’s chalking this one up to racing’s wild, unpredictable soul—leaving us all itching for the next showdown.
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