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Chris Buescher crew chief takes savage shot at Denny Hamlin after Talladega wreck

Nick Profile Picby:Nick Geddes•about 21 hours•

NickGeddesNews

Chris Buescher
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Chris Buescher‘s race is done at Talladega. He was running P2 on Lap 52 of Stage 1 when Denny Hamlin made contact with the back bumper of race-leader Christopher Bell, sending both Bell and Buescher hard into the inside wall.

Scott Graves, Buescher’s crew chief, is frustrated with Hamlin. He immediately took to social media and called out the Joe Gibbs Racing driver for causing a big wreck off a restart.

“This team works so hard every week, had our driver in position for the end of stage 1, and the guys that would consider themselves some of the best drivers in the world can’t even get through a restart,” Graves wrote. “I see why you have an insurance sponsor [Denny Hamlin], can I file a claim?”

Soon after Bell and Buescher wrecked, Hamlin was on the radio. He apologized for his role in the wreck.

“What in the hell?” Hamlin said, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “We weren’t even up to speed yet. Man… apologies if that’s on me. We weren’t even up to speed yet. I don’t know why that would have wrecked him. When he shot down to the bottom, I wasn’t even sure I was actually on him.”

Chris Buescher rips Talladega after wreck: ‘This isn’t racing’

Like Graves, Buescher was honest about how he felt. He voiced his frustration with superspeedway racing.

“It’s just not racing, and I’ve been a part of those, and I’ve hated every second of it and I don’t want to be a part of it,” Buescher said, via Matt Weaver of Short Track Scene. “Jack [Roush] adamantly doesn’t want to be a part of it. Brad [Keselowski] adamantly doesn’t want to be part it.

“That’s not what we’re here to do for ourselves as racers as competitors, for our partners, it’s not right. So, you’ve gotta race and you gotta accept that you’re going to have moments like this. But that one felt a lot more preventable. Again, I haven’t seen it, but it sure felt more preventable than a lot of those scenarios.”