“An eye for an eye”: Denny Hamlin convinced Kyle Larson took revenge at Nashville for last week’s incident

The rain-delayed Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway witnessed yet another on-track tussle between Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing speedster Denny Hamlin. After the race, Hamlin spoke to renowned journalist Bob Pockrass, suggesting that Larson was paying him back for their run-in at New Hampshire last week.

The duo exchanged blows at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, coming off of turn 4. However, Larson's spotter Tyler Monn radioed the #5 driver, saying that the latter was responsible for allowing Hamlin to run him up the track. Kyle Larson snapped back at his spotter, asking him to 'shut up.'

Fast forward to this week: Kyle Larson ran Denny Hamlin up the track at the end of Stage 2. Hamlin was not happy about that. He attempted to get back at his rival but aborted when his crew chief Chris Gabehart yelled at him multiple times to stop.

"Worry about the grab a**ing later," Gabehart radioed.

Nevertheless, after recording a 12th-place finish in the 331-lap race, Hamlin suggested that what Larson did was essentially "an eye for an eye" move.

"I mean, it was an eye for an eye," Hamlin said (via journalist Bob Pockrass' X). "I ran him up the track last week and he ran me up this week and it's all good. I think, obviously he got into us and knocked us and the #22 and then I'm not sure if we wiped out the #1 (Ross Chastain) or not driving into (turn) 1; it's all fun."

Denny Hamlin entered the race third in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. After Sunday's race, he sits second with 621 points. Kyle Larson, who finished eighth in the race, remains the points leader with 664 points to his name.

Matt DiBenedetto weighs in on Kyle Larson’s move on Denny Hamlin

Veteran NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Matt DiBenedetto saw nothing wrong with the way Kyle Larson raced Denny Hamlin. The Viking Motorsports driver reposted the clip that shows the exchange between Larson and Hamlin, saying that it is usually how Hamlin races Larson.

DiBenedetto captioned his post:

"Looked like the normal way the 11 passes the 5 usually to me 😜😂"

The Larson-Hamlin feud is anything but new. It happened at Kansas last year when Hamlin bumped Larson on the final lap and bagged the win. The story repeated at Pocono in July when Hamlin put the Elk Grove native into the wall and grabbed his seventh win at the "Tricky Triangle."

A few weeks ago, during Stage 2 of the inaugural Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway, Hamlin pushed Larson's Chevy up the track. However, the #11 driver did take the blame back then, explaining that he might have gassed his Toyota too soon and nudged the HMS icon.