Denny Hamlin echoes Ryan Blaney's stance in a blunt reality check to Carson Hocevar for lacking ‘common knowledge’ about racing

Denny Hamlin has doubled down on Ryan Blaney's take in a blunt message about Spire Motorsports sophomore driver Carson Hocevar, for lacking common knowledge about racing. The #77 Chevy driver drew significant attention -not only for a career-best feat at Atlanta- but also for finding himself at the center stage of scrutiny.

Hocevar didn't start the Ambetter Health 400 on a promising note, making a rear-of-the-field start in 26th place. But 13 laps into the event, the 2024 Rookie of The Year winner had powered his way into the top 10, burning rubber with the frontrunners.

Despite a commendable performance, rivals expressed displeasure with how the #77 pilot raced. Among the critics was Blaney, who lashed at Hocevar after getting wrecked on the turn; and later told the Spire driver to tone down his aggression, suggesting against making contact with those maneuvering through a corner.

Denny Hamlin echoed Team Penske driver's comments. He emphasized that several aspects of racing are learned through experience, however, not wrecking someone between the turns is common knowledge, and should be known nonetheless.

"I think Blaney explained it right in his interview, like, there's things to learn but there's also things that you should know. This isn't your first race, and hitting someone entering the corner on a track where you can't make contact in the corners is a recipe for disaster. Blaney was like, you know, this is not something that you have to learn overtime, this should be common knowledge," Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental (19:34).

It's worth mentioning that Hamlin defended Hocevar's closing laps aggression, citing the natural adrenaline rush of chasing a potential career-first win.

Denny Hamlin advises Carson Hocevar of mature driving through Jimmie Johnson's example

Several drivers offered their assessment to Carson Hocevar after the Atlanta disaster. But when asked by the Spire driver, he iterated being in the sport to win races, not be a “boy band.”

Denny Hamlin also opined on the matter but refrained from advising Hocevar. Instead, the JGR driver pointed to seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson as a model for fierce yet clean racing.

Hamlin elaborated that Johnson earned the respect of his peers not by wrecking them but through his sheer talent and speed.

“It’d be hard for me to give him advice but I would say that one of the best our sport has ever seen, Jimmie Johnson. You just never saw him run into anybody, but yet he was just a fierce person on the racetrack,” Hamlin said during the above-mentioned podcast (33:38).

“You feared him but it was because of how good he was, and how fast his car was, and his skillset not because oh this guy’s going to run into me,” he added.

Denny Hamlin and Carson Hocevar will commence their third Cup Series race weekend at the COTA. The former will enter the battle ranked 13th while the latter would field his NextGen machine, ranked 15th.