NASCAR star Denny Hamlin has opened up on his feelings about Michael Jordan's reaction to Tyler Reddick's Cup Series win at Kansas.
A clip of the NBA Hall of Famer playfully grabbing his 23XI Racing co-owner by the throat circulated after the race, with Hamlin being beaten in overtime by the No. 45 after looking like he had the race sewn up.
Jordan was naturally delighted that his driver had taken the flag, with the fact that the win came at his co-owner's expense appearing to delight him even more.
He even admitted as much after the race, telling FOX on air: "Look, I’m racing against Denny. I really wanted to beat him because I know we’re going to talk a lot of trash a little bit later."
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Hamlin: I was all in on Kansas race
Hamlin wasn't particularly in the mood to celebrate after a 62nd Cup Series win was snatched from him because the last-placed car decided to run long on tires at the end of the race.
Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast after the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver admitted that Kansas was the one time this year he didn't enjoy a Reddick victory at all, saying: “I don’t expect [Jordan] to understand where I’m at in that moment.
"Every other Reddick win, I’ve been split. Happy, sad, happy, sad, you know? Just depends on how my day went. That one, I was full 100 percent my way on this one. The emotions were all team 11 on that one."
Hamlin did go on to admit that he talks heaps of trash to the six-time NBA champion, saying that it appear to trigger something in the infamously competitive former Bulls player.
“He’s very happy because of how much s*** I talk to him, actually. I know it’s hard to believe, but I talk a lot of trash to him. … He probably wants to beat me as much as anyone. … When it’s head-to-head, he wants to see the 23XI drivers beat me because I talk that trash."
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