Kyle Larson says Pocono incident with Hamlin lingers: 'I can't see what I did wrong to deserve it'

RICHMOND, Va. – After he intentionally was wrecked by Bubba Wallace at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last year, Kyle Larson begged NASCAR to go easy on its punishment.

Why did he lobby for leniency with Wallace, who hooked the right rear of Larson’s No. 5 Chevorlet head-on into the outside wall and then angrily shoved him afterward?

Because Larson believed it essentially was his fault after he had put the same move on Wallace that Denny Hamlin did to win July 23 at Pocono Raceway.

“I think I’m a very fair person,” Larson told reporters after qualifying Saturday at Richmond Raceway. “I make mistakes, but when I ran Bubba in the fence, I said he had every right to be mad at me. I even told NASCAR, ‘Please don’t suspend him’ because I caused that. I think I’m fair with how I respond to things most times.”

Which is why the 2021 Cup Series champion has had a hard time letting go of his 20th-place finish at Pocono Raceway, where he slammed the wall after Hamlin’s move for the lead that has become the controversy du jour of driver scruples in NASCAR’s premier series this week.

“I think in my career, I’ve always been really fair about how I handle things where I’ve gotten the short end of the stick,” Larson said. “Even times I’ve put people in a bad spot or wrecked them, so many times I can think of in my career when someone wrongs me, and everyone else around me says, ‘You need to do this. You shouldn’t be their friend.’

“And I always can look at what did I do to put myself in that position to get crashed or spun. I just can’t see with this one what I did wrong to deserve to get run in the fence. That’s where I’m upset and feel strongly about how I handled it and all that.”

Larson said he’s been angrier after races (“usually at myself”), and he spoke in his typically measured tone without a hint of rage about the Pocono incident and Next Gen ethics (taking every question from a gaggle of media during a 15-minute session).

But the Hendrick Motorsports star has dwelled on this incident as much as any during a career that has lasted over two decades and branched into virtually every racing series in North America (with the Indy 500 coming next year).

“I tend to blow things over quickly,” he said. “I think (the media) would love to get more out of me a lot of times. I feel I do a good job of that most times. This time, I’ve probably let it linger on my attitude this week, because it’s happened more often with him than any other driver in my career. And then a win was taken. That also makes you frustrated.”

Much of his disappointment stemmed from how he was treated by Hamlin, though it also was expected after his good friend (at least off the track) had used the same maneuver on Ross Chastain last year at Pocono.

“I wasn’t surprised because he made the exact same move work last year with Ross, a driver he does not respect and who he shouldn’t have respected at that point,” Larson said. “I knew the opportunity was there to pull that move. I was more concerned about the restart before. I was thinking if he got inside, he’ll do what he did last year because it worked.

“But I was hoping, because of all the times he’s wrecked me and our friendship off track, he’d maybe have a little bit more respect for me. But then he pulled the same exact move so I guess …. whatever.”

Hamlin mostly struck a tone of unrepentant defiance in the immediate aftermath of his 50th Cup victory, but he had softened his tone Saturday (“it’s hard to say in that moment I would do anything different; certainly I didn’t like the outcome for him”) and wanted to try to meet Larson in person at the track.

They settled for a brief text exchange Friday night that Hamlin characterized as “good.”

“There is always going to be a difference of opinion and sometimes you have to agree to disagree,” he said. “That’s OK, but the biggest thing is I think hearing the other person out and understanding why they are frustrated. Sometimes you get caught up in your own world, thinking about your own team and how important it is to them, and you have an incident like that, you need to sit down and take a second to hear the other side. I totally understand that for sure.”

Larson said there was no point to meeting in person because “we were just going to agree to disagree and probably get more frustrated with him. And I’m sure vice versa. I thought the brief texts we had were good and ultimately was probably the best. I get over things pretty quickly. So I’m sure I’ll get over this over time.”

But there were a few points that he wanted to get across before letting it go:

--Reaffirming his postrace interview last Sunday with NBC Sports’ Kim Coon, Larson said “it might look a little different” the next time he races Hamlin on a restart. Larson noted that he declined to make the same move on leader Kyle Busch during multiple restarts of the Gateway race that Busch won last month.

“I respect Kyle and that’s why I raced him with respect at Gateway,” he said. “And I respect Denny every bit as much if not more. Or I did. … You can’t predict how things play out. I know what to expect racing around him. I hope he expects the same in return.”

--Echoing comments Saturday from Hamlin, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Ross Chastain, Larson said the Next Gen car (with its lack of sideforce and sturdier construction) has made it much easier to force the issue and make a pass by diving to the inside. The car on the outside has little recourse but lifting off the accelerator and yielding position or staying in the throttle up the banking and risking a collision with the wall.

“The outside guy in that instance with the old car wasn’t affected,” Larson said. “That’s exactly what I did to Bubba, I got in there and chased it up the track, packed air on his left side and ran him into the wall. Yes, it’s a thing for sure. You’ve seen it with others. And Denny has done it a number of times and is really good at it.”

--Though Hamlin said the practice has become accepted over the past decade with wins tied to playoff berths and round advancement, Larson doesn’t believe it should be an accepted part of doing business in NASCAR, though it’s become commonplace (other examples being cited Saturday: Hamlin vs. William Byron at Texas last year, Chase Elliott vs. Hamlin at Charlotte; Logano vs. Byron at Darlington).

“Just as Bubba was mad when he wrecked me after I put him in the fence, it’s not something you should be ‘Eh. Part of it. It’s just racing. I left you a lane,’ ” Larson said. “It’s really not. It’s less than a lane with the air shoving your car to the right. I’d say Pocono really wasn’t the air. I didn’t feel the air. He ran into me before I got to the exit, and I had no option but to hit the wall. I had no angle left for the corner. The air there was way less of a factor, where when I ran Bubba in the wall, that was all air. We never touched. But I ran him into the wall with my air.

“It’s a product of the cars and the aerodynamics, but I wouldn’t say it’s been accepted. You don’t have to touch somebody to wreck somebody. You can use it to your advantage to at least get someone tight where they have to lift off the throttle on exit to kill their run and then be able to side-draft them down the straightaway. I think that’s something we all use most weekends. But since Bubba, I try not to run people into the wall, not that I was trying to run him in the wall then. But I try to be a little more cautious and where I’m positioned and they’re positioned.”