Denny Hamlin defends Carson Hocevar aggressive driving, Ross Chastain incident during Atlanta finish

Denny Hamlin understood why Carson Hocevar was driving aggressively during the Atlanta NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin defended Hocevar for his driving and his incident with Ross Chastain.

“I’m going to be Carson, I’m going to say, ‘This is my very first win. This is one of my best shots I’ve ever had to win the race, and that was the move I thought would do it for me,'” Hamlin said when talking about Hocevar’s incident with Ross Chastain.

“‘I’ll go back and look at it and see if I made a mistake, and if I did I’m going to learn from it and I’ll do better next time. But in that moment, I thought that that was my best move.'”

Hocevar, who finished second in the Atlanta race, battled Chastain at the front of the pack. While Chastain battled Kyle Larson, Hocevar was behind Chastain and was ready to push him. But instead of pushing Chastain, Hoecevar sent his car up the middle to give himself a better chance to win. Castain drifted back through the pack and finished eighth.

Denny Hamlin shares more on Carson Hocevar and Ross Chastain

“On a Superspeedway, it’s all about can the second, third, fourth car stay close to the first person in line,” Hamlin explained. “If either one of those cars pull out of line at any point, your line is dead, and whatever lane stays committed to each other, that lane will go forward. …If I’m Ross, that’s probably what I’m saying is that ‘I understand you’re trying to go for the win yourself Carson, but it killed our line. We all went backwards at that point.'”

After the Atlanta race, Carson Hocevar was asked by reporters about his aggressive driving. “We’re here to win races, not be a boy band and love each other and play on the playground together,” Hocevar said. “So obviously, there’s learning lessons. You don’t want to piss anybody off or frustrate anybody, and there’s things I would clean up for sure. But it’s just going to come with learning …

“Again, I’m normally 40th, waiting for them to crash and hoping they crash, and I finish in the teens. So, to be up front and get stage points in both stages and have a shot to win is something to hold my (head) high. … And I’ve always said I’m a really bad superspeedway racer, so this at least gives me a little bit more confidence.”