Denny Hamlin breaks silence on Kevin Harvick’s “mentality” criticism with a savage dig
Kevin Harvick had criticized Denny Hamlin for publicly condemning JGR's pit crew in Kansas.
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Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick (Via IMAGO)
Ross Chastain won his maiden race of the 2024 season at Kansas after a stroke of bad luck struck Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch out in front. The JGR driver’s race was primarily ruined by his pitcrew’s antics, causing him to call out his squad for the subpar service. However, this did not go well with Kevin Harvick, who condemned Hamlin for losing his cool, but Hamlin supposedly had the last laugh as he pointed out the hypocrisy of the 48-year-old.
At the race in Kansas, Denny Hamlin started eighth and aimed to make inroads towards the top five. His ability to make moves and overtake rivals aided him in getting to the front of the field and led a staggering 71 laps out of the 267 laps. Despite this, he finished eighth when the chequered flag as his race was full of woes that were out of his bounds.
After losing the race with a huge margin and being the de facto pace-setter at one point, the Toyota driver was discontent with his pit crew and asserted that they messed up. This did not go well with Kevin Harvick, who while analyzing the 43-year-old’s race asserted that a driver should not let his emotions get loose.
To take a jibe at the 2014 Cup Series champion, he replied with a screenshot of comments made by Harvick at the Darlington race in 2016. By this, the No.11 driver pointed out the 48-year-old’s hypocrisy in commenting on matters and asserted that he preached what he did not practice himself.
I give up. Why in the world would you say that? Why in the world would you get out of the car and say that? Part of what you do as a race car driver is you have to be a poker player. When you have that driver’s suit on, you have to play the game and you can’t open your mouth to put yourself in positions to be in a worse spot than you already are. Even if you think it, don’t say that.
Kevin Harvick said
Denny Hamlin laments the fragility of the Next Gen cars
While Hamlin’s race being ruined due to one or the other factors is not out of the ordinary amid the recent form, he has not been helped by the fragility of the cars. Moreover, ever since the introduction of the NextGen cars, multiple drivers have lamented the newer cars.
Subsequently, the No.11 driver glanced at how the underbody has taken the primary role in producing the major downforce in the Next Gen cars. This could hamper a driver in the final few races as a small damage to the underfloor could decide the fate of a driver making it to the final four or ending up on the bubble of proceeding through.
These things are fragile on the underside. Overside, not fragile at all. You can beat and bang with these things pretty easily and not get overbody damage, but the underbody, you roll over some duct tape, you’re risking losing a lot of speed in your car. It happened to us at Michigan… when I spun through the infield there, it just destroyed it.
Denny Hamlin said
As it stands, Hamlin is 11 points ahead of being dropped from the Round of 8. Thus, the next two races would be crucial in ensuring that the 43-year-old makes it through to the final rounds and aims to win his maiden championship at Phoenix.
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Geetansh Pasricha
(772 Articles Published)