“I Gave Him the Old Finger!!” Denny Hamlin Spill the Beans on Aggressive Carson Hocevar Duel at North Wilkesboro

The NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at North Wilkesboro witnessed some wild moments. One of those biggest moments was something majority of the garage missed. It happened during the aggressive duel involving Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin and Spire Motorsports youngster Carson Hocevar.

The duo found themselves racing for position, that could yield good points, on stage one, with Hamlin getting upfront by choosing not to pit during the caution. They raced hard and the veteran was able to frustrate the Spire driver by perfectly countering the No:77 car’s attempt to move rival up the track using right rear. He talked about it on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast.

We raced hard.  There was one time… He really tries to slide guys a ton.  He goes in there and just overdrives and then uses his right rear to move you up. So, I know that tendency.  I planned for it and drove accordingly, so I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t drive in really deep to not let him ever clear. 

Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.

There was a moment when Carson Hocevar was able to slip up the track and get into the side of the No:11 Toyota Camry. But Denny Hamlin was able to get out of the challenge easily and couldn’t stop himself from flipping the bird at the youngster in retaliation. The Chevy driver failed to make another good offensive move after the incident.

There was one time, he slipped up and got into the side, and I gave him the old finger out the window, ‘No, no, no, don’t do that.’ From there on out, we didn’t make contact again.

Denny Hamlin added via Actions Detrimental.

Denny Hamlin frustrated Carson Hocevar a lot at North Wilkesboro

Earlier talking about the same point on his podcast, Hamlin admitted that his goal in stage one was remain aggressive and maximize points. He knew his moves irked the No:77 driver who got stuck behind him on those laps.

We wanted to stay aggressive with our track position, and it was a net gain for us. It was a battle.  I was doing everything I could to hold all the track position. I’m sure Carson Hocevar was frustrated getting stuck behind me.

Denny Hamlin said.

The veteran has one plan, continue running his line and admitted that if it wasn’t the final laps of the stage, he would’ve easily let the Chevy overtake him. This shows how stage racing has changed the sport, making it more competitive that it usually would’ve been in a similar situation.

I just want to make sure I run my line.  I knew it was going to be tough.  Any other time in the race, I certainly would’ve let him go, but I had to hold that track position because I knew the end of the stage was coming. If it was an infinite run when we don’t know when the caution was coming, I certainly would’ve let him go.

Denny Hamlin added.

The aggressive attitude of Hamlin helped him to eventually finish the race at P2 and earn enough points to extend his championship lead on Tyler Reddick to +68. With just five more races left in the regular season, it would be interesting to see how many more points he can earn before the chase commences.

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