Martin Truex Jr. calls Denny Hamlin's move on Kyle Larson 'dirty' after Pocono

Amid all of the Denny Hamlin drama, Martin Truex Jr. has said his piece. The veteran driver said his teammate made a “dirty” move. Truex was in the mix for the win at the end of the NASCAR race but just didn’t get the right push he needed. Still, he was able to follow up his New Hampshire win with a P3 result at Pocono Raceway. Not the worst thing in the world.

Of course, the big move was Hamlin pushing Larson up into the wall on Turn 2. According to Martin Truex Jr. he could have made that move, but didn’t.

“When I was running third, I picked the outside behind the 5 [Kyle Larson] and it got me to second,” Truex said to NASCAR SiriusXM. “I felt like if I just did that again, I was going to run second to him. So I picked the front row and I didn’t get the push I needed and I fell back again and I had to fight my way back. I don’t know, for whatever reason we couldn’t get the push we needed on the front row but we pushed a lot of guys today forward and whoever was the leader if they were in front of me they were going to keep the lead you know what I mean?

“I’m not exactly sure what that was all about but I feel like I picked the right lanes and I did exactly what Denny did besides running through – pushing the 5 car too deep in the corner and run him in the fence off of [Turn] 2. You know he kinda took it that extra little bit I guess to make it a little bit dirty and you know I didn’t so maybe that’s the difference why he won and I didn’t.”

@MartinTruex_Jr talked with @ClaireBLang after Pocono and didn't hesitate to call out JGR teammate @dennyhamlin for his "dirty" move on @KyleLarsonRacin. pic.twitter.com/1FdkYxE7mG

— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) July 24, 2023

Martin Truex Jr. fighting for regular season championship

The good news for Martin Truex Jr. even though he didn’t win, he beat William Byron pretty good. Right now, Truex and Byron are racing for that regular season championship. Drivers like Kyle Busch and others are sorta in the mix. However, those two are out front and competing hard with each other.

Still, Pocono was a good race for Truex. He actually increased his points lead and his laps led stat for the season. Right now, he’s in control and will be able to determine his own future. Richmond is a track he’s capable of winning at, both road courses coming up – we might see multiple Truex wins in the final month of the regular season.

While the Denny Hamlin incident stole the show, the goal remains the same. Martin Truex Jr. might be in his last season in NASCAR and he wants to go out on top. That all factors into how he races and how he reacts after moments like Pocono.

Always a driver that gives others the benefit of the doubt, Truex Jr. won’t hold back when he sees something he thinks is suspect. Perhaps this is a warning that the veteran should be ready to race aggressively going forward.