"It just makes your job so hard" - Denny Hamlin paints worrying picture for Carson Hocevar following Atlanta controversy

Denny Hamlin recently gave his take on what Carson Hocevar's aggressive driving style could lead to in the future against his rivals. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver shared his thoughts on Hocevar upsetting many of his rivals at Atlanta Motor Speedway, including Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, and Kyle Busch.

Because of Hocevar's antics on the track, he was confronted by Blaney and Chastain afterwards, something that overshadowed his second-place finish at Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday.

This was something Denny Hamlin spoke about on Actions Detrimental, pointing to the outcome of a driver upsetting his rivals and what it could mean for Hocevar.

"The thing is, if you've got a bunch of guys upset with you, it just makes your job so hard, it really does. It makes it hard in so many aspects, because you've got restarts that now drivers are like, 'Screw him. I ain't afraid to put him, shove him three-wide middle or shuck him out,' or on the racetrack, Carson is way faster than me instead of giving them the finger to go on by I'm just going to hold him up," Denny Hamlin claimed [36:20].

He suggested that if a driver were to spin him out, he would do all he could to hold them up for a while anytime that driver was near him. Denny Hamlin emphasized that he, like most drivers, doesn't let go of such things, and there are ways drivers can show their displeasure or frustration without ever making contact on the track.

His statement prompted his co-host Jared Allen to wonder whether the other drivers would adapt their driving style as per Hocevar if he ran up front more. Hamlin speculated that it is what Hocevar wants them to do, and 'he wins' if drivers change their style to accommodate him.

With that said, the #11 driver touched on the tough spot regarding Carson Hocevar, where he could see the wrong things he did as well as those he didn't.

"It's hard for me to chastize everything and lump it into one certain thing. It's not a co-incidence not everyone is crazy and you're right. Eventually if you have enough people pissed off, there's some sort of common denominator you gotta look at but some people don't care and they're going to be themselves and there's nothing wrong with that," Denny Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin had called on NASCAR to take action against Carson Hocevar in 2024

During the Cup race at Nashville last season, Carson Hocevar attracted controversy for his on-track incident involving Harrison Burton. After the Wood Brothers driver blocked the Spire youngster, Hocevar retaliated and wrecked Burton under caution.

His actions on the track left Denny Hamlin urging NASCAR 'to do something' to Hocevar, without making a serious issue out of it. Hamlin described:

"They don't need to suspend him or anything like that but they need to dig into his pocket a little bit. I think that anytime someone goes before a judge, they always take into your past history."

The JGR veteran pointed to Hocevar's history in the Truck Series when his right rear hooked Tanner Gray at Martinsville while under caution. Hamlin touched on Hocevar having a pattern of going through moments where he's under control and then suddenly losing it.