“He messed up”: Denny Hamlin delivers brutally honest verdict on Alex Bowman’s mistake that handed Larson his 30th Cup win

Denny Hamlin has delivered an honest verdict on Alex Bowman's late mistake at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver thought the No. 48 "messed up," allowing Kyle Larson to take the lead and secure his 30th NASCAR Cup Series win.

During the Straight Talk 400 at Homestead-Miami, Alex Bowman was forced to change his racing line to defend his first-place position from Kyle Larson. Bowman eventually hit the wall off turn four with seven laps remaining and dropped to second.

In the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin, who finished fifth at Homestead-Miami, shared his thoughts on the two-way Hendrick Motorsports battle in the end.

"He (Alex Bowman) messed up. The guy (Kyle Larson) was pressuring him," Hamlin said.

"I would've come off the wall slightly more and then force the #5 (Larson) to make the pass only in turns one and two. But again, I'm not in that seat," he added.

The No. 11 Toyota Camry driver clarified he wasn't criticizing Bowman before concluding:

"Look at the #48 (Bowman) and his ability to take the lead there from Bubba (Wallace)... track him down, pass him, that was all really impressive. And it was more speed than I saw really out of the #48. Certainly, all weekend, I think that between qualifying on the pole and race day adjustments, they nailed it."

While HMS scored a 1-2 finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hamlin also had a strong outing. The 44-year-old finished fifth after starting 23rd, winning stage two, and leading for 15 laps. He moved four spots up to rank eighth in the standings.

Next on the calendar is the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. The 400-lap race around the 0.526-mile track is slated for March 30 at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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Denny Hamlin commended A.J. Allmendinger's defensive driving at Homestead-Miami

On the same podcast episode, Denny Hamlin praised A.J. Allmendinger for effectively defending at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He argued Allmendinger was number one on defense to finish a season-high seventh place.

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver said (via Actions Detrimental):

"A.J. Allmendinger, he was number one on defense and restarts. And defense is defined by when you have somebody within a certain proximity of the back of your car, do you keep them from passing you."

He added:

"What this could mean, AJ could have been holding up the line. A lot of times, [if nobody] is able to pass you, you're gonna rank really high on defense. He was ranked 10th on speed. Passing... 28th. So it sounds like he just did really good on restarts, number 1, and he held'em up. That was A.J.'s key to running well."

This year marks the return of Allmendinger to the NASCAR Cup Series. He drives the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing alongside teammate Ty Dillon, who finished 27th at Homestead-Miami.

As for the JGR crew, Chase Briscoe led the charge in fourth, followed by Denny Hamlin. Ty Gibbs finished 25th, while Christopher Bell settled for 29th place.