Kyle Larson furious with Denny Hamlin 'using him up' during the final restart at Pocono Raceway: "I deserved to be raced with respect"

Keeping his run of great finishes at Pocono Raceway going, Denny Hamlin clinched his seventh victory at the track this Sunday, at Kyle Larson's expense. The driver duo, who are good friends off the race track, came together at the weekend as the countdown for the 2023 playoffs is starting to heat up.

The HighPoint.com 400 saw Denny Hamlin crowd Kyle Larson up turn 1 of 'The Tricky Triangle', causing the latter to make contact with the outside wall, all while battling for the lead. After the contact, Larson went from a possible top-2 finish to finishing 20th. The 160-lap-long race ended under yellow-checkered conditions with the #11 Toyota Camry TRD driver booed by the capacity crowd at the venue.

The #5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver gave his side of the story after the race in an interview with frontstretch.com. Keeping his calm, collected demeanor, albeit with a slight touch of sarcasm, Larson said:

"I felt like I deserved to be raced with respect at least through turn 1 but he that was going to be his only opportunity to beat me with how bad dirty air was so, I got used up."

Kyle Larson further elaborated on how he has never been in a position where he would have to apologize to Denny Hamlin for on-track etiquette. Meanwhile, the opposite goes for Hamlin:

"We've had a handful of run-ins, I've never had to reach out to apologize. He's always been the one that's reached out to me and been like 'Hey man, sorry I messed up there a little bit'. I've never had to do that to him."

Denny Hamlin speaks about whether he raced Kyle Larson respectfully or not

In the aftermath of the HighPoint.com 400 where Denny Hamlin seemingly put Larson into the wall in turn 1, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver talked about the incident in a post-race press conference. Defending his actions on the track, Hamlin said:

"We're racing for the win are you sh***ing me? For sure. I mean if I'm going to give anyone in the field respect, it's Kyle Larson. I respect him as a racecar driver and I think he's probably the best. So, certainly, he's got my respect. We're all racing for a win and I guarantee you, roles reversed, it goes the same way."

NASCAR goes live from Richmond Raceway next weekend for the Cook Out 400.