Denny Hamlin has posted a blunt response to Kevin Harvick after he heavily criticized the Joe Gibbs Racing driver for his post-race comments in Kansas.
Hamlin endured a frustrating race on Sunday and did not hold back in his post-race comments. Whilst speaking to the media, Hamlin claimed that he was “not in it mentally” which instantly took the interest of fans and the media. He explained, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:
“They know that today was one of their worst days ever. They’ll just go work to clean it up,” Hamlin said.
“I don’t know, I’ve had some pretty bad days, but just yeah, horrible day.
“Came out 15th, 20th, then we had a loose wheel. Just terrible. Terrible day.
“We should have won the race. We had the fastest car, but every time we get to the top three the caution comes out and we restart 15th, 20th. Can’t show how fast your car is when you’re back of the pack.
“All you can do is just keep making positions back up to the front over and over and over and eventually you just run out of laps and someone else wins.”
He added:
“I’m not in it mentally, I can tell you that. There’s a lot of wires crossed and bolts loose at the moment. But what can you do? I’ll just do the best I can to drive the car and do my part.”
It didn’t take long for Harvick to give his thoughts on Hamlin’s reaction to the race during his podcast, Harvick Happy Hour. He explained:
“I give up. Why in the world would you say that? Why in the world would you get out of the car and say that? Part of what you do as a race car driver is you have to be a poker player.
“When you have that driver’s suit on, you have to play the game and you can’t open your mouth to put yourself in positions to be in a worse spot than you already are.
“Even if you think it, don’t say that. It just blows me away that you would say that you’re not mentally into it after the race and just say… I just couldn’t imagine ever saying that. Never point the finger at something like that even if you’re not mentally into it.”
In response to Harvick’s critique, Hamlin took to Twitter where he posted a screenshot of Harvick’s own critical comments from 2016 about his pit crew. In the past, Harvick expressed similar sentiments, saying:
“I’m over being a cheerleader. Those guys get paid a lot of money to perform on pit road. Cheerleading hasn’t been working so you have to get after them on pit road and do your job.”
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