Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 in the Cup Series, had a shot to win at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 23rd, 2023, but found himself on the receiving end of a bump-and-run from race winner Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry as the laps ticked down. Understandably, Larson wasn’t too pleased with the contact, and made his displeasure known after the race was over.
With seven laps remaining, Larson’s No. 5 Camaro and Hamlin’s No. 11 Camry were side-by-side for the race lead. Larson was forced into the wall, damaging his No. 5 Camaro and relegating him to a 21st-place finish and leaving him extremely frustrated.
“I’ve been cost a lot of good finishes by him throughout my career,” Larson said of Hamlin. “I know he says that I race a certain way, but I don’t think I’ve ever had to apologize to him about anything, not that I’m sure he’ll say ‘I’m sorry’ after this but it is what it is.”
He continued, “Yeah, we’re friends. Yes, this makes things awkward. But he’s always right. All the buddies know, Denny’s always right. It is what it is. I’m not gonna let it tarnish our friendship off track. But I am pissed, and I feel like I should be pissed.”
Larson also explained that he feels he “has the right” to race Hamlin a little differently moving forward. “So eventually, like he says, you have to start racing people a certain way to get the respect back,” he said.
The best NASCAR Chevy at Pocono was Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who brought the No. 47 Camaro across the line in seventh. Erik Jones’ No. 43 Camaro and Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro were the only other Bow Ties to finish in the top 10, finishing 9th and 10th, respectively.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota | 160 | 9 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 7 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Jordan Brand Toyota | 160 | 15 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 3 | 2 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 160 | 20 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Peach Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 11 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | He Gets us Toyota | 160 | 4 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 5 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Yahoo! Toyota | 160 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 22 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Blue Buffalo Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 26 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 24 | 43 | Erik Jones | U.S. Air Force Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 35 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 10 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos Toyota | 160 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 27 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 21 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 1 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 160 | 60 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 36 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Speedy Cash Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 13 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 16 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Action Industries Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Wyndham Rewards Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 15 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Benebone Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 3 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 160 | 24 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 25 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Lenovo Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 32 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 9 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Libman Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 20 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Best Friends Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 31 | 51 | Cole Custer(i) | Jacob Companies Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 28 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Patriot Mobile Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 12 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | TD Bank Chevrolet | 160 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 33 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 29 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | HighPoint.com Ford | 160 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 14 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 160 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 34 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Mohawk Northeast Ford | 159 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 30 | 78 | BJ McLeod | B'laster Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 19 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 153 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 23 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BREZTRI Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Verizon Frontline Ford | 48 | 21 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 17 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Jockey Chevrolet | 37 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Danny is the SOB that always complains about other drivers and Talk NASCAR in to getting Chase Elliott penalize for one race ! But NASCAR let Danny get away putting cars in the wall, get up on the Bumper other car to take air off the back to get them to lose control and What does NASCAR do ,Give him a reword ! Dannys own Gibbs driver M Truex Jr said that Danny made a dirty move on Kyle Larson by putting him in the wall ! In the past NASCAR have taking wins from drivers for wrecking the front driver for the Win !
You are correct. Hamlin has done this several times before and the crowd let him hear it. He needs a good punch in the mouth instead of being wrecked. He is a dirty driver.
Hamlin, is the first to cry to the media and Nascar if anyone races him hard. Chase Elliot missed a race because of this cry baby. I guess he feels secure since nascar clearly favors Gibbs and the toyotas and he is part of the coveted diversity push with michael jordan ( would like to see that deal on paper) . I am sure jordan doesnt have much skin in the game
Denny is the biggest hypocrite out there; he talks about how respect is gone in nascar then goes and walls an actual champion. Nice display of respect to pass down to the up n coming drivers. That is the reason denny has never won a championship, plus he gets in his own head.
Hamlin is a punkass. He doesn’t have any talent so he’s not able to pass cleanly to win a race or gain position. He needs to be wrecked really hard! Enough to break his legs so his season ends. Nascar will be better off without him. He’s just a jerk like Ross.
Hamlin always b!tches and complains when someone touches his car but he can run a guy into the wall and no consequences!!! Dirty hamlin!!
I hope Denny ends up in front of Larson and he dumps him hard, Larson is a botch if he dont. Plus remember we are coming to a short track and last time here Denny drove thru JJ Yeley. Denny is tough here but Larson has some fire in his belly hopefully. Id like to see Larson put him in the wall, then if Denny is able to get back on the track Yeley finish him off:)