“How can you wreck someone when you don’t touch?”
Denny Hamlin ran Kyle Larson up into the wall late in the race and bullied his way to his 7th win at Pocono. As NASCAR crowds are wont to do, they voiced their displeasure with Hamlin upon exiting his car to take the checkered flag. Hamlin didn’t seem too perturbed by the boo birds and said they can boo his (Pocono commemorative) rock later on.
His comment post-race comment is the mindset that Hamlin has about his moves vs how the field races. Denny has preached driver respect all year long yet ran Larson into the wall as they vied for the lead. I also think the video will show the two cars leaning on each other as Hamlin and Larson were door to door. Denny lectured about how aero sensitive the cars are if you are on the outside and that Larson made the (wrong) decision to not lift and continue to race Hamlin, thus making the decision himself to hit the wall rather than yield to Hamlin.
Yeah, OK Denny.
The race was certainly an eventful one as drivers raced to make a final push to be in the Top 16 in points at the end of the regular season. AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric and Austin Dillon are among the more desperate drivers looking to get all they can in these final few races.
The wreck that caught up Joey Logano also caught Daniel Suarez. Both drivers tried to keep going but the cars were too heavily damaged. Logano’s car would not refire after his spin and had to be towed to pit road and the damage from the tow certainly didn’t help his situation. But Logano is already in thew win column where Suarez has yet to crack that level. Being first out of the race didn’t help his points quest and he now sits 17th in points.
Austin Dillon entered the race deep in the field and had a run in with former teammate Tyler Reddick that sent Dillon spinning and wrecking. Dillon vented his frustration with the good old helmet throw and said later that he guesses he needs to start wrecking people to get the respect he feels he deserves. He should also realize he wasn’t clear on the track when he made a move to come down on Reddick.
Ryan Preece went after Corey Lajoie who was sitting in his car on pit road. Preece’s spin brought out the final caution and considering Lajoie finished P27, I guess Preece was ticked off at ruining a possible Top 30 finish.
Things of note: It was a good points race for several teams, others not so much.
As I noted last week, I expected Toyota to dominate the race finish and they did with the Top 3 finishers and 5 out of the Top 6. Hamlin led 9 laps, Reddick 15, Martin Truex, Jr. 20.
For several drivers this race a good day. Tyler Reddick finished P2. Reddick has a win but this brought some much needed points cushion.
Kevin Harvick finished P4 as he battles for a win in his last season.
Ty Gibbs was P5 and is 19th in points as he battles for the final playoff position.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (P7), Harrison Burton (P8) and Erik Jones (P9) all ran well and had nice points gains but are out of reach of the playoffs without a win.
Chase Elliott was P10 and gained points on the drivers he is chasing but not enough to make a real difference. He still needs 50 points or more to leap into the final spot without a win.
On the other side, Kyle Busch had a terrible day and we all know how he feels about that, finishing P21.
Austin Cindric was P23 and he needed a lot more. The same for Alex Bowman, P24. Both are fighting Chase Elliott for position.
Ryan Blaney (P30) was running well and led 2 laps before something in his engine stopped working and he plummeted like a rock.
Joey Logano finished P35 after leading 21 laps and looking pretty stout. Fortunately for him, he already has secured a place in the playoffs.
Next up: Richmond
Kyle Larson is the defending Richmond winner having won the spring race in April. He led 93 laps on his way to victory lane. William Byron led much of the race with 117 laps and finishing first and third in the two Stages.
Kevin Harvick won this race last year leading 55 laps to Joey Logano’s 222 lap performance.
Other recent Richmond winners are Denny Hamlin in April 2022 with Byron again leading 122 laps and Ryan Blaney 128.
September of 2021 saw MTJ win after Hamlin led 197 laps and Toyota swept the top three positions with Christopher Bell.
April of 2021 saw Bowman in Victory Lane after Hamlin led 207 laps and won Stages 1 and 2 while MTJ led 107 laps.
Brad Keselowski won in 2022 and led 192 laps.
Hamlin has led the most laps at Richmond by and has the 4th best overall finishing position with teammates MTJ and Bell ranked 2 and 3. Looks like another strong race for Joe Gibbs Racing might be in the offing.
Chase Elliott needs to have a Top 5 this week to show some momentum. There are several good races coming up with Michigan, Indy Road Course, Watkins Glen and Daytona winding up the final race of the regular season. So a win is possible but not looking very likely with the team misfiring the way it is right now. Chipping away with Top 5 finishes could help him overcome his current 56 point deficit and while that’s the hard way to do it, at least he is doing it and building a foundation for the playoffs.
That’s all I have, keep the shiny side up!
(Photo by Logan Riely / NASCAR Media / Getty Images)