Denny Hamlin Offers Direct Response to Kevin Harvick Outburst

Denny Hamlin posted a scathing response to Kevin Harvick after he heavily criticized the Joe Gibbs Racing driver for his post-race comments in Kansas.

Hamlin faced a frustrating race on Sunday and didn’t hold back in his post-race comments. When speaking to the media, Hamlin stated that he was “not mentally involved”, which instantly piqued the interest of fans and media. He explained, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:

“They know today was one of the worst days ever. They will just work to clean it up,” Hamlin said.

“I don’t know, I’ve had some really bad days, but yeah, a horrible day.

“We left in 15, 20, so we had a loose wheel. Just terrible. Terrible day.

“We should have won the race. We had the fastest car, but every time we got into the top three the caution came out and we restarted in 15th, 20th. You can’t show how fast your car is when you’re back in the pack.

“All you can do is keep making up front positions over and over again and eventually you run out of laps and someone else wins.”

He added:

“I’m not in it mentally, I can tell you that. There are a lot of crossed wires and loose screws at the moment. But what can you do? I’ll do the best I can to drive the car and do my part.”

It didn’t take long for Harvick to give his opinion on Hamlin’s reaction to the race during his podcast, Harvick Happy Hour. He explained:

“I give up. Why the hell would you say that? Why the hell would you get out of the car and say that? Part of what you do as a race car driver is you have to be a poker player.

“When you put on that pilot suit, you have to play the game and you can’t open your mouth and put yourself in a worse position than you already are.

“Even if you think that, don’t say it. It just surprises me that you would say you’re not mentally interested in it after the race and just say… I just couldn’t imagine saying that. Never point the finger at something like that, even if you’re not mentally interested in it.”

In response to Harvick’s criticism, Hamlin took to Twitter, where he posted a screenshot of Harvick’s own critical comments from 2016 about his pit crew. In the past, Harvick has expressed similar sentiments, saying:

“I’m done being a cheerleader. These guys get paid a lot of money to perform on pit road. The cheerleaders haven’t been working, so you have to go after them on pit road and do your job.”