Denny Hamlin SLAMS Joey Logano for “losing his mind” at Talladega
Denny Hamlin fired shots at Joey Logano for the latter's radio rant against his own teammate Austin Cindric at Talladega Superspeedway.
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Denny Hamlin (via Getty), Joey Logano (via Newsweek)
Joey Logano was left frustrated with his teammate Austin Cindric at the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega. The youngster checked up early during the final laps of stage-2, costing Logano the momentum and valuable playoff points. The No. 22 driver then went on a full-on rant on the team radio against the 2022 Daytona 500 winner, using all of the curse words in the dictionary. This inspired JGR’s Denny Hamlin to take a dig at the Penske driver for losing his temper.
Joey Logano‘s crash out on team radio was unexpected, as Austin Cindric‘s move wasn’t as bad as the former made it out to be. To make matters worse, Logano faced a disqualification from the race for failing the post-race inspection. Denny Hamlin sarcastically questioned the relationship between Penske drivers over the radio drama.
On his Actions Detrimental, podcast, Hamlin clarified that Cindric wasn’t completely correct in his late race move, but that did not warrant a full-blown insult on team radio.
What is it about these Penske guys that lose their mind? I mean, he just ripped Austin a new one, I’m not saying he was right, but these guys are hot under the collar. … You’re going to the end of a stage, and he lost his mind because the 2 [Cindric] checked up?
Denny Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
Hamlin still believes that the rant would be understandable if the incident were much worse than the one that occurred at Talladega. The 23XI driver pointed out that if Cindric were to push the other car towards Bubba Wallace in this case, then Logano’s anger was justified. Even then, the No.22 driver could have kept his disappointment short and less negative.
Like, I think that rant is only warranted if the 2 car pushes the other guy by you, then I think you can say, ‘what the hell, Cindric? Why’d you do that?’ Then you kind of let it go.
Denny Hamlin added
Denny Hamlin ‘can’t imagine’ being as wild as Joey Logano on team radio
Denny Hamlin is much more mature on the team radio, especially towards his teammates, than Joey Logano or other drivers on track. Hamlin didn’t stop at questioning Logano’s crashout on the team radio but also talked about his own candor. The 44-year-old believed that the drivers went into a different headspace after putting on the helmet and getting out on the track.
Hamlin asserted that other drivers had some wires crossed in their heads when they put the helmet on. The No.11 driver labeled the entire situation as ‘wild’ and questioned why the drivers had become so harsh nowadays. Hamlin even claimed he could never be as intense as Logano, which is debatable. He reiterated that he couldn’t imagine getting wild as the No. 22 driver, more so against his own teammates.
I don’t know, man. These guys got some wires crossed when they put that helmet on. It’s wild. I don’t know, maybe my intensity is just not quite where it needs to be. I can’t even imagine getting that wild.
Denny Hamlin noted
Logano and Cindric did not have a public altercation apart from the back-and-forth on the team radio. The two drivers are likely to make up to one another and aim to maximize results for the upcoming race at the Wurth 400 in Texas. The No. 2 driver will aim to continue his winning form, as well as help his teammate and not cause yet another argument on the team radio. Hence, time will tell about how Team Penske bounces back from the issues faced at Talladega.
Read More: Joey Logano breaks silence on backlash over Talladega meltdown
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