NASCAR has always prided itself on tough, aggressive racing. While many motorsport series across the world frown upon rough driving, and even hand down penalties for it, the Cup Series encourages its drivers to make contact when necessary. It is part of what distinguishes NASCAR from other racing leagues; the beating-and-banging, “boys have it” driving is what put the sport on the map many years ago, and is what continues to draw in fans to this day. 

But with that said, there is a line that should never be crossed. Aggressiveness on the track can create exciting and iconic moments (see the spring Darlington finish from 2003), but it can also dismantle the integrity of an event, a season, and even the sport in general. At some point, rough racing becomes dirty racing, and I believe that Denny Hamlin crossed that line in the closing laps of yesterday’s race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. 

On the second-to-last restart of the day, Hamlin lined up right behind the leader, Kyle Larson, in the outside line. The pair blasted past Martin Truex Jr. on the inside, and when they got to turn one, the 11 car looked to the inside of the 5. Larson slid up the track, leaving Hamlin with room to drive it in alongside of him. Just as Larson regained control of his car, Hamlin started moving up the track himself, slowly inching closer and closer until he slammed into the side of the 5 car. This contact shot the Hendrick Motorsports driver up into the outside wall, which he bounced off of upon exiting the corner. Larson fell back to fourth as a result of this, while Hamlin took the lead right before caution came out for a crash behind them. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver would hold onto the top spot on the following restart, and take his 50th career win in the Cup Series, including his seventh victory at Pocono.

The fans were understandably upset with the way the fight for the lead was decided, and they showed their frustration with Hamlin by booing him vehemently as he celebrated on the frontstretch. Even on the TV broadcast, the jeering came through loud and clear, so I can only imagine how powerful it must have been in person. When asked about the booing, Hamlin simply responded with “I love it”.

Denny also claimed in his post race interview that he never touched Larson, even though the footage tells the opposite tale. It is clear as day that Hamlin runs into the side of the 5 car, so him saying that there was no contact is a blatant lie. It is true that he wasn’t still bumping into Larson when the blow to the outside wall occurred, but the only reason Larson was in the wall in the first place was because Hamlin hit him. It is pretty obvious that Larson was well under control and was going to make it out of the turn just fine until Denny pushed him up a few lanes. 

What makes the situation even worse is Hamlin’s refusal to take the blame for an accident that is quite obviously his fault. He claims he has nothing to apologize for, and chalks it up to just hard racing. Kyle Larson responded to this in his post race interview when he mentioned that all of Hamlin’s buddies know how “Denny’s always right”. Kyle Petty followed up on this by saying, “People who are always right don’t have remorse. They just go ahead and live their life in their world. That’s what Denny does.” This lack of willingness to own up to mistakes and apologize is a running theme with Hamlin, and it has only made him more of a villain in the eyes of the fans after yesterday’s incident.

Personally, I do not subscribe to the “do what you have to do” attitude that Denny Hamlin employed at Pocono. While NASCAR racing is meant to be rough and tough, that doesn’t give drivers the excuse to run over each other whenever they want. Fans like myself want to see aggressive but fair racing, where everyone’s leaning on each other a bit and pushing the limits, but never overstepping their boundaries and cleaning people out. The back-and-forth, give and take action that we see on NASCAR tracks is something we can’t get anywhere else in motorsports, which is why we love the sport as much as we do. But when drivers take advantage of the bumpers of their vehicles to cause mayhem and win at all costs, suddenly the fun gets sucked out of things. It isn’t impressive to wreck someone, nor is it impressive to watch.

What Denny Hamlin did to win this race at Pocono wasn’t impressive, simply put. Everyone knows that eight tires are better than four, and using Kyle Larson’s car as a brake pedal instead of his own doesn’t show any of Denny Hamlin’s talent. If he wanted to show how good of a race car driver he is, he would have sawed away at the wheel, modulated his brake and throttle inputs, and straight up beaten Kyle Larson off the corner. He would have used skill to make the pass, not force. What Denny did is nothing that you or I couldn’t do; it doesn’t take any talent to fence someone.

And that’s why I’ve got to call Hamlin’s move a foul one. He took the easy way out, and instead of putting on a show for the fans and battling Larson straight up for the win, he decided to just take his competition out and ride off into the sunset. Sure, he did what he had to do to win. But that’s not the kind of racing that should be rewarded. Moves like that should be beaten out of drivers in the lower divisions so that they never manifest themselves at the top of the series. But when the stars of tomorrow see 50 time Cup Series winner Denny Hamlin blatantly fence Kyle Larson for the win, they’re going to do the exact same thing when the opportunity presents itself. This kind of dirty racing is a bad look for NASCAR, and is only going to come back to bite them down the line when it becomes so normal that nobody tries to pass each other cleanly anymore.

Kyle Larson absolutely has the right to be upset about this, as does Cliff Daniels, Rick Hendrick, and everyone else in the industry. Hamlin’s pass for the win was a skill-less, dirty, disrespectful cheap shot. While these cars have fenders on them for a reason, using them for classless acts like these defeats the purpose of even racing to begin with. Fans tune in every week to watch the best stock car racers in the world do battle, not to watch them drive each other into the wall as soon as a checkered flag is on the line. While Denny Hamlin’s move may have yielded him a victory, I believe it makes him anything but a winner at the end of the day.