NASCAR star Denny Hamlin weighs in on Noah Gragson and Kevin Magnussen beef

NASCAR star Denny Hamlin has sided with fellow Cup Series driver Noah Gragson after his beef with F1 star Kevin Magnussen at San Diego, arguing the latter should have shown more respect to a full-time driver.

Magnussen made his Cup Series debut at the Naval Base Coronado event as part of Trackhouse Racing's Project 91 on Sunday, finishing 27th out of the 39 drivers but also setting the fastest lap of the race.

Magnussen's debut was not without controversy, though, with the former F1 star having wrecked Front Row Motorsports' Noah Gragson and spun him around at one point during the race, causing race-ending damage to the No. 4 Ford.

The pair had been battling hard all race up to that point after an incident on lap 25 where Magnussen ran into the rear of Gragson's car, causing him to veer off line. Gragson, it would be fair to say, did not take kindly to this, with the hard racing that followed ultimately leading him to be wrecked.

Post-race, Gragson and Magnussen got into an X-rated altercation at the track, with the NASCAR star looking for answers, and Magnussen telling him to "f**k off" and "get the f**k out of my face" in return.

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Denny Hamlin on Noah Gragson and Kevin Magnussen beef

Now, assessing the incident on his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin has sided with his fellow NASCAR driver, even despite being full of praise for Magnussen's effort at Naval Base Coronado.

“From what I saw, I saw that Noah was ahead of him early in the race, he goes into turn 12, covers the bottom, and Kevin, I mean, he just hit him hard,” Hamlin said.

“He hit him hard into turn 12, and then the game of grab ass was on from there. I mean, I thought Noah showed a lot of really good restraint post-race. He kept asking, ‘Why did you wreck me?’ and I couldn't really hear what he [Magnussen] was saying.

“I think he [Magnussen] did a really good job this weekend; he was fast. Did I see he had the fastest lap? Is that true? He had the fastest lap? I mean, that's freaking impressive.

“But, if you're coming over here for a one-off, you gotta show the competitors some respect that are here full-time.”

Hamlin sides with Gragson

Hamlin continued, arguing he believes NASCAR stereotypes led to Gragson getting dumped.

“If I went and did a one-off somewhere else...I mean, I guess that’s stereotyping us and NASCAR as, ‘Well, you guys just run into each other, so I think it’s okay to just power drive you into turn 12.' I’m not a huge fan of that.

“And I have nothing against him [Magnussen] at all. I raced around him a little bit today. He was fine, and I think what he did was wildly impressive.

"But yeah, I’m going to have to side with Noah on this one.”