Those who tuned in for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway on Sunday got plenty of entertainment. Not only was there some exciting racing on the track, we had some fireworks after the HighPoint.com 400, too.
Kyle Larson wasn’t too pleased with Denny Hamlin following Sunday’s race, when the No. 11 driver essentially pushed the No. 5 car into the wall late in the race. Hamlin said Larson “wrecked himself.”
Larson said he had a “right to be pi--ed.”
This week, senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, joined SiriusXM Radio to talk about that specific spat.
“We have two of the greatest race car drivers that we’ve probably seen in the history of our sport behind the 11 and the 5 steering wheels. They’re future Hall of Famers, and we’re seven laps to go and they’re both doing everything they can to win the race,” Sawyer said, per NBC Sports.
“So when you come up short on that, for whatever reason, if you feel like you’ve been done wrong, you’re going to be to upset. You’re going to want to show your displeasure. … Those guys are professionals. I feel like they will handle that (moving forward) appropriately. If we feel like we need to get involved more, we will, but at this time I don’t see anything we need to do on our side.”
Hamlin went on to claim the checkered flag, winning the 50th race of his career. But that wasn’t the only dispute we saw over the weekend.
NASCAR plans to talk with other drivers after Pocono
Along with the Hamlin-Larson controversy, we also witnessed disputes between Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, as well as Ryan Preece and Corey LaJoie. NASCAR intends to address those four drivers before the race at Richmond.
Dillon and Reddick made contact, sending Dillon into the SAFER barrier. After exiting his car, Dillon threw his helmet at Reddick’s car, though he missed the target.
“When you get down to the end of the race and you’re in position to have a strong finish, totally understand the emotion, didn’t see anything there (that warranted a penalty),” Sawyer said.. “We plan to have a conversation with both of those guys to make sure we’re in a good headspace as we go into Richmond. We’ve said it before … our drivers get very emotional, which is part of what is the draw for our fans.”
Sawyer also stated that NASCAR plans to talk with Preece and LaJoie. Preece ripped into LaJoie — who was still inside the car — following a late-race spinout.
NASCAR wants to ensure drivers are calmer heading into this weekend’s race at Richmond. That may not be the easiest task, but something has to happen.
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