Denny Hamlin has sent a stark warning to NASCAR Cup Series rival Carson Hocevar about his actions on and off the track.
The current points leader and 21-year Cup veteran revealed on his Actions Detrimental podcast that multiple drivers had said they would refuse to push Hocevar at the superspeedway, insisting they'd rather push 'anyone else'.
Hamlin warned that it's not just Hocevar's aggressive driving style which turns other drivers against him – although that plays a part – but his reaction to those wrecks after the fact.
It's not uncommon for the young Spire driver to joke about the wrecks on social media the night after the race, displaying a lack of contrition which has earned him absolutely no friends at the track (although his fans seem to love it).
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Hamlin explained that Dale Earnhardt Jr., a driver who Hocevar has been compared to on more than one occasion, was able to toe the line which allowed him to wreck other drivers without being hated by them, and without losing their respect.
"You don’t race the fans," he said of the divide between Hocevar's growing fanbase and the way he's seen by other drivers. "You race your competitors, and there are a lot more of them than there are of you.
“It may sound good in an interview, but when you get to the end of a race, those words can hurt your finishing position. There were drivers in our meeting today who said they will not push Carson Hocevar to a victory. Absolutely not. They’ll push anyone else.
“You can’t disrespect people on and off the track. That’s what Jeff Burton was saying so well. Dale Earnhardt was winning a lot of races, but he would at least come to you and say, ‘Man, I’m sorry about that’. He made you believe you were friends, and he’d help you get over it.
“You don’t have to have a lot of friends, but you definitely can’t have a lot of enemies. There’s never been one of the greats in our sport who wasn’t respected by his peers. What’s good for clicks is not always what’s good for competition.”
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