Denny Hamlin doesn't want to 'linger' on Pocono any longer after Richmond race

Another race between us and the Pocono incident, and Denny Hamlin is looking forward to putting it behind him. Now that the Cook Out 400 is over and nothing major really happened, Hamlin is over it. Chris Buescher won despite a late restart threat from Hamlin and is now locked into the NASCAR Playoffs.

When it came down to the end of the race, Buescher’s team told him to race the 11 like he raced Kyle Larson at Pocono if needed. He was asked if he had any reaction to that piece of advice, and he seemed to be just fine with it.

Denny Hamlin wants everyone to see it for what it is, a racing move. Forcing drivers around the track is as old as racing itself.

“Well yeah, I think that no matter who is upfront they’re going to push some guys wide,” Hamlin said, via Matt Weaver. “At the point where I went to the outside of the 17 in turn three, moved up the race track. That is just – that’s racing guys, we gotta understand. I know we want to linger on it but this has been happening for a long, long time. Nothing new.”

Denny Hamlin says the RFK cars were just a little better

"That's just racing today," when asked about the 17 being told to race the 11 the way he races

He says he made a mistake on the restart that forced him into a hail mary on the final lap pic.twitter.com/JuwofE23Ij

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) July 30, 2023

While Denny Hamlin had a shot at the win, he didn’t have enough speed. Those RFK cars were just better in the end. Chris Buescher held a tight wheel and didn’t let the Joe Gibbs Racing driver shake him on his way to victory.

A P2 finish after his Pocono win isn’t too bad. Hamlin will be just fine with this solid all-around day. This is the third top-10 finish for Hamlin in a row and his fourth top-5 dating back to Gateway.

Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson have a run-in

It was what everyone was waiting for, Kyle Larson eventually found himself next to Denny Hamlin at Richmond. However, it was what anyone thought. Instead of these two drivers fighting for a top-5 spot on the track or the win, it was a strange situation.

Larson was two laps down, about to go three laps down to Hamlin. However, Larson had better tires. So, when the 5 came up behind the 11, he gave him a bump to let him know he was there and he was faster. It didn’t last long and it was over in a moment, but Larson went right by Hamlin.

The Cook Out 400 was not very interesting. For those that like cautions and wrecks this was not your kind of race. Lots of green flag runs and lots of strategies went into this 400-lap race at Richmond.

Denny Hamlin came out on top in this race, even if his hometown crowd booed him beforehand. He wasn’t able to get another win but he was able to pull off a P2 result on a long, hot day in Virginia.