Denny Hamlin names the drivers he “hate seeing win” the most

Joe Gibbs Racing Denny Hamlin has a surprising but reasonable take on the drivers who he doesn’t want to see beating him.

Denny Hamlin names the drivers he “hate seeing win” the most

Denny Hamlin (David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier via AP)

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin had a mixed race at COTA on Sunday after he finished P21 while his teammate Christopher Bell won the race. But the No:20 Toyota might not have won the trace of not for the No:11 drivers mistake that ruined both the Richard Childress Racing drivers’ race, by bringing out the caution.

Denny Hamlin slammed into Austin Dillon with just 18 laps left in the race causing a caution flag. Kyle Busch was leading the race with a good gap from Christopher Bell at the moment, and the yellow flag gave latter the opportunity win. This stirred controversy in the racing community that Hamlin wrecked deliberately. The veteran shut down these claims highlighting how he never likes his teammate winning races driving the same car as him.

Let me educate the conspiracy theorists. I am a competitive person as you may know. There is nobody that I hate seeing win more than my teammate because I know they’re driving the same thing that I’m driving.

Denny Hamlin said via Action Detrimental podcast.

He admitted that though he loves Bell as a person, he doesn’t want him to win races as it isn’t a good look for him to lose races to his teammate on the same car. Hamlin also declared that he didn’t have any idea who was leading the race when the incident happened.

I know every driver is like, ‘Oh, I’m so happy for my teammate winning.’ I mean, I love Christopher Bell. He’s a great dude, but I don’t want him to beat me. Like, that’s not a good look for me. You always measure yourself off your teammates and trust me, I never saw the lead all day. I had no f***ing idea who was up front.

Denny Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin apologized to Austin Dillon

In the same podcast, Denny Hamlin revealed he talked with Dillon over the incident via text. He admitted to the No:8 Chevy driver that he messed up and screwed the whole race for Richard Childress Racing.

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin (Via newsminimalist.com)

I texted Austin and said, ‘Listen man, I apologize. I ran through shit. It’s no excuse, it’s still on me no matter what the circumstances, so it certainly screwed RCR over in more ways than one.

Denny Hamlin said.

The comments from Denny Hamlin shows he understands he messed up and he should have done better with decision making at the moment. It would be interesting to see how Hamlin as well as RCR can bounce back from the disappointments starting from Phoenix.