The battle for track position on a critical Lap 64 restart completely derailed Denny Hamlin’s top-10 afternoon at Sonoma Raceway. While poised for a heavy points haul, the Joe Gibbs Racing star was sent spinning backward into the Turn 7 grass following a chain-reaction collision triggered by Carson Hocevar and Brad Keselowski.
While early online fan frustration immediately focused on Hocevar’s reputation for aggressive driving, race replays later revealed a multi-car bottleneck entering the heavy-braking zone.
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Speaking after climbing from his damaged car, Hamlin refused to publicly call out Hocevar or Keselowski until he had a chance to sit down with his team and evaluate. He said:
“I mean, I’ll have to just see what happened and, you know, reevaluate from there I haven’t seen but I know you want a reaction, but I haven’t seen it. When I see it I’ll react to it…It’s frustrating for sure.”
The 26th-place result is an incredibly tough pill to swallow for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing camp. This move also led to an immediate response from Denny Hamlin.
Denny Hamlin reacts to crew naming Carson Hocevar in Sonoma wreck
The quiet restraint Denny Hamlin showed during his post-race media availability was nowhere to be found inside the cockpit of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during the race. As reported by NASCAR insider Jordan Bianchi, Hamlin shared his raw reaction to the mechanical damage that derailed his strong Sonoma run.
The second the No. 11 car spun into the Turn 7 grass, Hamlin immediately keyed his mic to identify who had spun him from 7th place:
“Who wrecked me?” Denny Hamlin asked.
“77”, said No.11 crew on team radio.
The final straw came when crew chief Chris Gabehart had to break the news to Hamlin that the car had sustained substantial damage to the front splitter. Upon being informed that he would have to nurse his crippled Toyota to the checkered flag, Hamlin let out his true feelings and said:
“F**king Bullsh*t”
Denny Hamlin has edged Tyler Reddick by a single point as the leader in the overall standings. A possible top-10 effort would have given the veteran a massive point buffer with just eight races remaining before NASCAR ventures into the playoffs.
Edited by Sashwat Deo