Kyle Larson refused Denny Hamlin’s request for a meet-up to settle the drama over DIRTY Pocono clash

Kyle Larson admits on Saturday that he isn’t still fully over the Denny Hamlin incident from Pocono.

Kyle Larson refused Denny Hamlin’s request for a meet-up to settle the drama over DIRTY Pocono clash

Kyle Larson (Credits: IMAGO) and Denny Hamlin (Credits: trendradars.com)

Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson has revealed he refused a request for a meet-up from Denny Hamlin on Friday at Richmond. The 2021 Cup Series champion was walled by Hamlin last Sunday at Pocono for the win.  It was the second time this season Hamlin employed such an aggressive move on the HMS team. The first incident came in Kansas, where the JGR driver won.

The incident stirred a lot of drama off the track thorough out last week. Since last Sunday, both drivers have been adamant about being the good guy during the incident. Larson accused the Toyota of hitting on his doors while Hamlin insisted he didn’t touch. A huge part of the racing community took the side of Chevy and said Hamlin was the aggressor here. Former driver Kyle Petty even called out Hamlin for his aggression.

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Ahead of the qualifying on Sunday, Kyle Larson was asked about having any conversation with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. He pointed out that they texted each other on Friday, and Hamlin wasted to meet in person. But the No:5 Camaro ZL1 driver refused to do so as he believes the meeting would have been fruitless and would have made both parties more frustrated.

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“It was brief and fine. We] just text a little bit late last night. He wanted to meet up, but I didn’t really feel like there was a reason to meet up because we were just going to agree to disagree and probably get more frustrated with him, and I’m sure vice versa. I’m sure he’d be frustrated with me afterward, so I thought just the brief texts that we had were good,” Larson told the RACER.

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Denny Hamlin’s podcast appearances defending himself made Larson more frustrated

Larson and Hamlin (1)
Kyle Larson (Credits: Hendrickcars.com) and Denny Hamlin (Credits: IMAGO)

The 23XI Racing co-owner wasted no time while sharing his views on the incident on his podcast, “Action Detrimental”. He insisted he was innocent and was just racing, giving Larson enough space. Hamlin even went on to blame the aero issue that came with the Next-Gen car for Larson’s crash despite Hamlin supposedly not touching him.

These words didn’t sit well with the HMS driver, who was already frustrated because his close friend in NASCAR moved him for the win. He is still trying to forget and move on from the clash but still is frustrated about all the defending made by Hamlin online.

“I think he said a handful of things that made me even more frustrated throughout the week than maybe I even was after the race. But we’re trying to forget about all that and go race this weekend and see if we can get a good run,” Larson said.

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