Denny Hamlin issues some hard truth on Kyle Larson incident: 'he got the losing end of a racing deal'

Denny Hamlin didn’t expect Kyle Larson to be in a jovial mood after he appeared to make contact with him while executing a pass to take the lead in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway en route to earning his 50th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Making an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Wednesday, Hamlin addressed the on-track incident in detail, saying Larson came out on the “losing end of a racing deal.”

💯 “I don’t expect Kyle Larson to get out and be happy with it. There was a winner and there was a loser and he got the losing end of a racing deal.”

🗣️ @dennyhamlin discusses his move on @KyleLarsonRacin at @PoconoRaceway and his take on aggressive racing and fandom. pic.twitter.com/C76FkmAken

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) July 26, 2023

“You know, I understand when you’re a fan of someone else, that is your allegiance and it doesn’t matter what happens to them — you’re going to, you know, if things don’t go your way, there’s blame to be placed somewhere. It doesn’t reside with your fandom to one given person or manufacturer or whatever it is. I get all that, but I also — people need to understand too that like I get it in the sense that I don’t expect Kyle Larson to get out and be happy with it, right?

“There was a winner, and there was a loser. And he got the losing end of a racing deal.”

Denny Hamlin addresses NASCAR fans booing him after Pocono win

The pass, which resulted in Larson losing ground and finishing 20th, earned Hamlin the crown as the most-hated man in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, as the sold-out crowd at Pocono showered him with boos as he took the checkered flag. Speaking on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast Monday, Hamlin said he was unbothered by the boos directed his way.

“I got booed after I got wrecked at Martinsville,” Hamlin said. “I got wrecked. There’s not subjectivity there. It’s not the fans are right because they’re booing. No, they just have a different lens because they’re fans. And if they’re fans of someone, or not fans of me, you’re gonna have a reaction. I mean, listen to it. Fans are loyal. And NASCAR fans are more loyal than any. I just take it with a grain of salt, like, the intros — I get booed the most by far in intros, and before the race, I haven’t done anything.”

Kyle Larson says he’s ‘pissed’ after Denny Hamlin pushed him into wall

While Larson said it wouldn’t affect their friendship, he didn’t hide his displeasure with how Hamlin raced him in that moment.

“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.”