Denny Hamlin responds after Richard Childress’ grandson subtly highlighted his COTA blunder, reveals his ‘no excuse’ text to the RCR driver

Denny Hamlin has spoken out about his wreck with Richard Childress' grandson Austin Dillon at the Circuit of The Americas. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver found himself in hot water after running over dirt that sent his #11 Toyota Camry into the RCR driver's #3 Chevrolet Camaro.

NASCAR shared the clip, describing it as a contact between the drivers leading to a caution. But after the 95-lap event, where Christopher Bell claimed his second victory in a row, Dillon 'corrected' NASCAR's post, pressing that Hamlin bumped into his ride.

Denny Hamlin revealed that he apologized to Dillon for the Lap 78 ordeal. The 54-time Cup Series race winner outlined that 's**t' was all over the asphalt while he followed Dillon over the esses, and he couldn't take note of the dirt until he pulled out of the line. But it was too late by then.

"As soon as I went left to pass Dillon, I wasn't off the line or anything, but I could see the track had s**t all over it. You can't see that until you pull out of line. I'm up his ass, and we're going through the esses, and I'm like, 'Okay, I'm just going to go left here'..as soon as I touch the brake, over, it spun out," Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental (23:12).

"I texted Austin and said, 'I apologize I ran through.' It's no excuse, it's still on me no matter what the circumstances, it certainly screwed RCR over in more ways than one," he added.

Dillon's correction to NASCAR's post didn't sit well with the fanbase and attracted immense backlash.

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Corey LaJoie comments on Denny Hamlin's disaster that propelled Austin Dillon's misery

Denny Hamlin couldn't conclude NASCAR's third Cup Series race weekend with satisfaction. The JGR driver started on a backfoot in P11, and his pursuit was mired by an opening lap incident on the 2.3-mile road course, stemming from Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott's contact.

The multi-car wreck damaged the left front of his #11 Toyota. And things went from bad to worse when he received a penalty for shortcutting Turn 5. However, the collision with Dillon was the final blow to Hamlin's race weekend, as he tried to dominate the battle for 20th place in Turn 6A.

The JGR driver continued and finished 21st while Dillon's Chevy was stranded in the gravel.

Rick Ware Racing driver Corey LaJoie chimed in on the incident, opining that the left lane was covered in dirt, preventing the #11 Toyota's Goodyear compounds from gelling with the asphalt.

"That left lane was covered in dirt from guys dropping the RS off through 5. He got all 4 in that and was along for the ride."

Of his JGR teammates Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin is the second-best in the Cup Series standings, trailing only behind Bell, who sits in fourth place.