Denny Hamlin Brads Corey Day an “Idiot” Over Gateway Wreck

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series last week witnessed some moments, with the Corey Day–William Sawalich wreck being the highlight. With 41 laps left in the race, the No:18 Toyota drivers spun the No:17 Chevy, after making contact with each other multiple times. They had a wreck the week before at Darlington as well.

The incident got the attention of Denny Hamlin and the Joe Gibbbs Racing Cup veteran talked about on the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast. He recalled how he texted reigning champion Kyle Larson about how the young HMS driver showed real lack of racing awareness in the moment. The veteran also countered JGR bias accusation highlighting his lack of relationship with Sawalich.

I texted Kyle and was like, no awareness whatsoever. This has nothing to do with JGR.  I have never spoken 10 words to William Sawalich. I’ve got no bias. I do not care, but the 17 is lacking awareness in a big way of what his role is in all of this.

Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.

Further talking about the point, Denny Hamlin highlighted how before yesterday Corey Day was often the instigator of wrecks and how rivals would react when they are pushed too much. The veteran called the HMS driver an idiot for pushing the rival, he has been making contact throughout the race, too much.

And if you look at all the highlights of who is wrecking who earlier in the year, it’s all the 17. Drivers can only take so much.  They need to send a message back.  And just because he nosed it in on the lower wall on the backstretch, well, what’re you doing? To me, just a total lack of awareness on Corey Day’s part. You gotta give the guy who’s pissed at you more room, not less.  He wrecked himself for being an idiot.

Denny Hamlin asserted via Actions Detrimental.

Denny Hamlin urges NASCAR to not penalize William Sawalich

In the same podcast earlier, Hamlin talked about potential consequences coming Sawalich’s way over the intentional wreck. He doesn’t want the sanctioning body to punish the No:18 driver, as he feels what he did was self-policing and the sport needs that. The whole context of the incident matter more than the one wreck.

NASCAR needs to let this one go. My opinion on this is pretty strong that this has been a self-policing garage for a long time. You have to let drivers police. When you look at penalties and things like that, you can’t look at the result. You have to look at the action.

Denny Hamlin said.

Further talking about the point, Hamlin reiterated that the poor decision making from the No:17 Chevy after being aggressive the whole day forced the incident. The racer also called out the youngster for putting all the blame on his rival post-race.

He doored him down the straightaway.  He could’ve very easily doored him and moved on.  He could’ve had a tire run, and the 17 could’ve had nothing… What is the 17 thinking? Knowing the guy is mad at you… He addressed in his interview, ‘The 7 had me all jacked up.’  What about the first two times you hit him?

Denny Hamlin asserted.

The comments from the veteran racer are on point and the majority in the NASCAR community might agree with him. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the upcoming days.

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