It’s pretty clear who Denny Hamlin thinks was the real culprit in the Kyle Larson–Ryan Preece incident from the Bristol dirt race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, even though he claimed he’s a good friend of the #5, still called him out as he claimed Larson got what he deserved.

Hamlin pointed to the kind of driver Larson is as he elaborated how he himself was the reason why his race ended in Bristol.

The veteran further commented on the similarities of this incident with something controversial he was also recently a part of, Larson’s post-race interview as well as Tony Stewart’s live reaction from the booth while his own driver was clearly involved in an incident with another car on the track.

Denny Hamlin claims Kyle Larson won’t get over the Bristol incident anytime soon

Speaking in a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin claimed it’s no wonder Ryan Preece was “pi**ed,” as he compared it to his own Phoenix incident with Ross Chastain.

“Looked very familiar, looked very, very familiar to Phoenix but that’s what racing is. I’m not saying either one of them deserved to be penalized, but it depends,” Hamlin said. “Are we gonna use the precedent or not?”

He claimed Larson “is in the wrong here,” as Preece just stood his ground, refused to getting crowded or make a choice between lifting or being put in the fence.

“When he got back to Larson, he gave him the business a little bit,” Hamlin described. “Larson’s mad because it’s like, ‘Hey, it was hour and a half ago, can’t we stop being a kid and get over it?'”

“Larson won’t get over it, I’ve raced with Larson, he holds grudges when he gets back to you, there’s no question.”

WATCH THIS STORY: “Ross [Chastain] Manipulated It” – NASCAR Insider Put the Sport Under Heavy Scrutiny, Proclaiming They “Screwed up Denny’s Penalty”

Hamlin on what he loves about Tony Stewart

Having called out Larson, the #11 driver emphasized he’s “really good friends” with him, but “each person has to be called out individually.”

“This was not Ryan Preece’s fault. Then you can argue all you want, but then, Kyle drove right down the racetrack on the backstretch and tried to door the s**t out of the #41 and then ended up wrecking himself in the process,” he described.

Hamlin then pointed to Tony Stewart’s classy response in the booth watching all of this unfold on the track in real time.

“I love Tony Stewart on the TV, he was like, ‘Well, the straightaway is getting really slick now.’ Man, I’m like, ‘God bless you Tony. I love that you stick up for all drivers,'” Hamlin said. “It’s actually against his team car but Tony is straight unbiased. But he’s biased to the drivers since he’s gonna give the drivers the benefit of the doubt.”

“That’s what I love about Tony.”

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