Denny Hamlin insists he didn't make contact with Kyle Larson, breaks down restart that led to incident

Denny Hamlin reiterated on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast Monday that he did not make contact with Kyle Larson during his pass to take the lead with seven laps remaining to secure his 50th-career NASCAR Cup Series victory in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Do you agree with @dennyhamlin?

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— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) July 24, 2023

“I still contest we did not touch,” Hamlin said. “I know it looks like it, but there’s not a ding on the car, not a scratch nowhere on the right side. So from where I was sitting on the left, I mean, I could not, if it was contact, I certainly didn’t feel it. It was so small that I certainly didn’t feel it in the car. I saw the flaps go up, which happens whenever you get some low pressure, I guess there’s high pressure underneath the hood, which happens when you do get close to each other.”

Larson felt differently.

Both drivers, who share a mutual friendship, are certainly seeing it tested based on the incident at Pocono. While Larson maintained he’d remain friends with Hamlin, he didn’t hide how “pissed” he was at the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

LARSON AND HAMLIN HAVE BEEF!!! pic.twitter.com/k2wS9sxKNf

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) July 23, 2023

Kyle Larson says he’s ‘pissed’ after on-track incident with Denny Hamlin

“I’ve been cost a lot of good finishes by him throughout my career,” Larson said after the race. “And I know he says that I race a certain way, but I don’t think I’ve ever had to apologize to him about anything. Not that I’m sure he’ll say ‘I’m sorry’ after this, but it is what it is. Just move on and try to go to Richmond, where we won earlier this year. It is what it is. Yeah, we’re friends. Yes, this makes things awkward. But he’s always right. All the buddies know Denny’s always right. It is what it is. I’m not gonna let it tarnish our friendship off track. But I am pissed, and I feel like I should be pissed.

“I think at this point I have the right. Like I’ve said, I’ve never had to apologize to him about anything I’ve done on the race track. I can count four or five times where he’s had to reach out to me and say, ‘Sorry I’ve put you in a bad spot there.’ So eventually, like he says, you have to start racing people a certain way to get the respect back.”