Denny Hamlin hits Chris Buescher crew chief with savage response, breaks down Christopher Bell Talladega wreck

Scott Graves, Chris Buescher‘s crew chief, publicly asked Denny Hamlin on Sunday if he could file a claim with Progressive Insurance, Hamlin’s sponsor. Graves immediately took to social media after Hamlin made contact with the back bumper of race-leader Christopher Bell, sending both Bell and Buescher hard into the inside wall on Lap 52 of the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

“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?”

Hamlin responded on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast. Hamlin took a shot at RFK Racing, which overall had a tough day at Talladega.

“He can [file a claim]. Call Flo,” Hamlin said. “But unfortunately for RFK, it’s a one-car maximum and it looked like they needed three claims yesterday.”

Denny Hamlin takes responsibility for Talladega wreck

The Stage 1 wreck ended Buescher and Bell’s days. At the time, Hamlin wasn’t sure how it happened. He called it “fu*king racing” on the podcast.

“Fu*king racing, I don’t know,” Hamlin said. “We were running 177 mph is what it said. So, we’re not even up to speed. I have forever when I’m the fourth car in line pushing or inside, I always push the car all the way until Turn 3 after a restart and I have done that for forever and it’s never been a problem. It just spun out the 20 [Bell].”

Hamlin further explained that he was push drafting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in Bell and had yet to get fully up to speed. In his mind, it shouldn’t have been enough to cause Bell to spin. But it happened, and Hamlin takes ownership of it.

“C Bell should have been going slow enough, and we should have been going slow enough where he was able to take a slight push all the way around the track. When he went around, it wasn’t like — I can feel into the back of someone like how hard I’m into their bumper and I felt like I was barely there. When I like to bump draft, I don’t bump draft. I like push draft. I always slow down, get to their back bumper and then shove them forward. Never really like to hit them and knock them forward.

“So, I got on his bumper, laid on it and just stayed on that push all the way around and then next thing you know, I turned his ass right into the infield. It’s on me.”