On the latest episode of his podcast, Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin shared how he wasn’t a fan of Carson Hocevar’s aggressive moves at Echopark Speedway. His comments drew backlash from a fan, and Hamlin promptly shot back with a rebuttal of his own.

Hocevar grabbed headlines for his P4 finish after going two laps down in Sunday’s Autotrader 400. However, the 23-year-old ruffled some feathers along the way, as he spun out Joey Logano and Christopher Bell. Logano’s incident was a case of mutual error, but Bell’s wreck proved too costly and cast doubts on Hocevar’s driving.

Bell lined up ahead of Hocevar on the first overtime restart and briefly moved up the track to defend the outside lane. The Spire driver decided to capitalise on the hole created in the middle and went for it without a second thought. His optimistic move ended up spinning out Hamlin’s teammate and put him through the outside wall.

Hamlin addressed the incident and said(via X/Jeff Gluck),

“Let me ask you this. I keep hearing that he’s going for it. If I’m three car lengths behind Carson Hocevar and I go through the grass into turn one and then wipe him out. Is that just me going for it? Or is that me being an idiot? I think we have to stop using the ‘well, it’s just going for it.'”

A fan defended Hocevar, stating,

“Same old story, old dog doesn’t like puppy. Puppy isn’t bogged down with baggage. The sport changed last evening whether you like it or not. NASCAR was sued, part of the suit was a return to old school racing. Now you’re not happy?”

“Puppies are great, but if they sh*t in your bed you gonna just lay in it? Or teach the puppy where to properly take a dump?,” Denny Hamlin replied.

Denny Hamlin was a victim of a Stage 3 wreck and ended up 13th on the final order. Hocevar, meanwhile, suffered a flat tire, a blown window, earned two free passes and threw haymakers at the frontrunners towards the end.

Much like last weekend’s Daytona 500, the No.77 driver was leading the field on the white flag, but eventually lost to Tyler Reddick.

Denny Hamlin reflects on 23XI Racing’s momentum

During the post-race press conference, Denny Hamlin was asked whether 23XI’s winning ways placed them alongside the likes of Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske, and Hendrick Motorsports. Notably, 23XI Racing is currently 1-2 in the points standings, with Tyler Reddick at the top and Bubba Wallace in second.

“It’s too early for that,” Denny Hamlin replied, “I mean, we’re many wins and championships away from that. There’s no question that we’re building fast cars and cars that are capable of winning week in, week out. We don’t always hit the setup or things like that, but we’re working hard.”

Denny Hamlin’s team is severely lacking on the standings. Chase Briscoe ranks the highest at 15th, thanks to his runner-up placing in Atlanta. Hamlin is down at 27th, while Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs rank outside the top-30.