Denny Hamlin is pushing back against recent criticisms leveled at him following a contentious incident at Watkins Glen.
During the race, Hamlin found himself three-wide in Turn 2 after contact with Brad Keselowski while Kyle Larson was on the inside. The resulting spin sparked a debate that reached the NBC Sports broadcast booth, where analysts Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton questioned Hamlin’s decision-making.
Hamlin has now taken to his “Actions Detrimental” podcast to defend his actions, providing a detailed, insider perspective on the complexities of three-wide racing dynamics.
The incident began when Hamlin shared Turn 1 with the No. 21 car. Describing the initial positioning, Hamlin stated:
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“I will have to, I’ve got to defend myself a little bit, with [Steve] Letarte and others, and [Jeff] Burton, because they said, you know, I stayed three-wide there.
“If you go back and look in turn one, I was actually side-by-side with the No. 21. So, the No. 21 got clear of me, so I didn’t choose to go up there, because I was side-by-side with the No. 6 and the No. 5. I was up there because I was letting the No. 21 go into the corner, like you should — you don’t want to run side-by-side into the esses.
“Well, then the No. 6 and the No. 5 jam it in there on me late, and yeah, I’m in three-wide top, but I can’t hit the breaks enough to let both of them go. I mean, at this point, as a driver, when you’re three-wide,
“I know this isn’t an official rule, but the code is whoever’s ahead usually kind of has the right-of-way, and if you’re the last car of three-wide, let’s just say you’re in the middle or on the bottom, and you’re the one who’s got your nose the least ahead, you should be the first to back out.
“I know that that’s not going to happen, especially in this situation. It’s hard to pass, everybody’s fighting for everything, but I was the furthest ahead of all the cars. I didn’t even see them.”
Hamlin added:
“So, I’m thinking, at the most, leave a little bit of room here, someone’s going to back out, and they didn’t, of course. … I just thought that, at that point, if you’re barely in there three-wide, it’s on you to lift.
“I was ahead of you at the time. So, it was unrealistic for, like TV said, for me to just back off. I was already backing off letting the No. 21 go, and then the No. 5 and No. 6 jammed in there. So I can’t just hit the brakes and let them all go in that moment.”
As anticipation builds for Bristol, Hamlin has one last chance to get into the Round of 12.