Heim unfazed by rain and dominates Truck Series at Pocono

Corey Heim earned his series’ best fifth victory of the season in Friday evening’s rain-interrupted CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The 21-year old swept both stages and led 55 of the 70 laps to add to his trophy total, but he had to …

The Georgian’s No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota led Grant Enfinger’s Chevrolet across the finish line by 0.867s to take his 10th career victory – quickly re-establishing himself as the race leader – again – on the final re-start with three laps remaining.

Back to racing and the intensity is off the charts! pic.twitter.com/yCj8jHK7uS

— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 12, 2024

“It started from the very beginning; we’ve had such a close bond,’’ Heim said of his strong working relationship with crew chief Scott Zippidelli and the career-best single season win mark.

“Week in and week out, so proud of these guys; can’t say enough about them,’’ Heim said.

Rain drops covered the windshields of the trucks – particularly in Turn 2 of the 2.5-mile Pocono track – and eventually brought out a caution flag for weather with only nine laps remaining in the race. After parking on pit road for just over 10 minutes of red-flag stoppage, the field returned to the track for a lap only to come back down pit road again as the rain got heavier with seven laps remaining.

Not surprisingly Heim immediately told his crew the rain was substantial. Enfinger, who was 2.2s behind Heim at the time of the initial red flag, was optimistic it was going to be a brief shower. NASCAR had already determined before the green flag that the race would be official no matter the circumstance at 8:20 p.m. ET – approximately one hour and 10 minutes after the first red flag waved Friday evening.

But the sun shone on the restart allowing enough laps to complete the race – a light rain beginning again during driver’s post-race interviews.

Enfinger’s second-place finish equals his best mark of the year – also at North Wilkesboro, N.C. – and certainly helped solidify the CR7 Motorsports driver’s position in the Playoff standings. He is seventh place with only two races remaining before the 2024 Playoffs begin Aug. 25 at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway.

McAnally Hilgemann’s Christian Eckes finished third, followed by TRICON Garage’s Taylor Gray and NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain, driving for Niece Motorsports.

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The closing laps featured close racing up front with many among the lead pack having to be conscious about saving fuel – a variable then made moot with the rain stoppage. Heim was trying to hold off the hard-charging, highly-motivated veteran Enfinger, who was racing for his first win of the season while Eckes had to hold off Chastain for third place.

The pole-winner Eckes led the race’s opening 11 laps in the No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Chevy and finished second to race-winner Heim in both stages. A slow pit stop during the second stage break forced Eckes to play catch-up. He restarted 10th but was up to fourth place within five laps and continued to move forward.

He rallied to that ultimate third-place showing giving him a series best 12-race streak of top-10 finishes and he still holds a 32-point edge on Heim for the regular season championship.

The first caution flag for a race incident came out with 26 laps remaining when Rajah Caruth spun on track. At the time Heim led Chastain by almost 3s . As the trucks drove under caution, drivers were alerted that rain was imminent, so the front-runners did not pit.

Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson and Caruth rounded out the top 10.

With only two races remaining to set the 10-driver Playoff field, Daniel Dye holds a single-point edge on Tanner Gray in that 10th position and a slight four-point advantage over Friesen.

Only four full-time series drivers have won this season to claim automatic Playoff berths including Heim, Eckes, Friday’s 13th place finisher Nick Sanchez and Caruth.

The Craftsman Truck Series moves to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for Friday’s TSport 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ty Majeski won last year’s race by more than 3s over Eckes. Championship leader Heim was eighth.

RESULTS

Racing on TV, July 11-14

All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted. Thursday, July 11 Perth Race 2 7:00-8:00pm (D) GT4 10:00-11:00pm (D) Friday, July 12 Pocono qualifying 2:00-3:30pm Iowa practice 3:30-6:00pm Pocono 5:30-7:30pm Saturday, July 13 CTMP Race 1 8:45- …

All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted.

Thursday, July 11

	Perth Race 2	7:00-8:00pm (D)
	GT4	10:00-11:00pm (D)

Friday, July 12

	Pocono qualifying	2:00-3:30pm
	Iowa practice	3:30-6:00pm
	Pocono	5:30-7:30pm

Saturday, July 13

	CTMP Race 1	8:45- 9:35am
	Pocono qualifying	10:00- 11:30am
	Pocono qualifying	12:00-2:00pm
	CTMP	1:20- 3:25pm
	Spring Creek	1:30-2:30pm
	Iowa	2:05-3:20pm
	Pocono	2:30-3:00pm pre-race 3:00-5:30pm race
	Iowa qualifying	3:45-4:45pm
	CTMP qualifying	3:55-4:40pm
	Laguna Seca Race 1	6:00-7:00pm
	Iowa Race 1	8:00-10:00pm
	Scotland Race 1	11:00pm- 1:00am (SDD)

Sunday, July 14

	São Paulo	10:00-11:00am – start
	CTMP	11:00am- 2:00pm
	Iowa Race 2	12:00-12:30pm pre-race 12:30-2:30pm race
	Pocono	2:00-2:30pm pre-race 2:30-6:30pm race
	São Paulo	3:30-5:00pm – finish
	CTMP Race 2	3:30-4:20pm
	Laguna Seca Race 2	6:00-7:00pm
	Scotland Race 2	11:00pm- 2:00am (SDD)

Key: SDD: Same day delay; D = delayed; R = Replay

MotoGP is now airing live on TruTV and Max’s B/R Sports Add-On. Check your streaming provider for air times

A variety of motor racing is available for streaming on demand at the following sites:

MAVTV.com

MotorTrendOnDemand.com

Larson says Hamlin feud still frustrating one week after Pocono

Kyle Larson had a “brief” and “fine” text exchange with Denny Hamlin, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver is still frustrated by what happened last weekend at Pocono Raceway. “It was brief and fine,” Larson said Saturday about his conversation with …

Kyle Larson had a “brief” and “fine” text exchange with Denny Hamlin, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver is still frustrated by what happened last weekend at Pocono Raceway.

“It was brief and fine,” Larson said Saturday about his conversation with Hamlin. “[We] just text a little bit late last night. He wanted to meet up, but I didn’t really feel like there was a reason to meet up because we were just going to agree to disagree and probably get more frustrated with him and I’m sure vice versa. I’m sure he’d be frustrated with me afterward, so I thought just the brief texts that we had were good and, ultimately, I think it was probably the best.”

Neither Larson nor Hamlin wanted to share what the two discussed.

Hamlin ran Larson hard through Turn 1 at Pocono, putting the No. 5 in a position where he was going to stay in the throttle and hit the wall or back off. By choosing to stay in the throttle and race side-by-side with Hamlin, the two went up the track and Larson bounced off the wall.

Under caution, Larson ran up to Hamlin on the frontstretch and squeezed him into the outside wall. Afterward, the Hendrick driver didn’t hide being angry at his friend and the lack of respect he felt Hamlin gave him.

“I think I did all my interviews before I saw a replay and I knew exactly what happened, and after watching replays, it pretty much confirmed what had happened,” Larson said. “So, my opinion on the on-track stuff hasn’t changed.”

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The more Hamlin has shared on the subject, the more Larson has disagreed with what happened. Larson anticipated Hamlin would say something on his ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast that wouldn’t help the situation.

“I think he said a handful of things that made me even more frustrated throughout the week than maybe I even was after the race,” Larson said. “But we’re trying to forget about all that and go race this weekend and see if we can get a good run.”

Larson said that “over time” he’ll get over what happened between the two. But while Hamlin said if roles were reversed in Pocono, the same thing would have happened with Hamlin on the receiving end, Larson disagreed.

Going back to St. Louis, Larson said he had four or five restarts to take a shot at Kyle Busch for the victory and didn’t do anything dirty. It’s how he said he would have raced at Pocono.

“I respect Kyle, and that’s why I raced him with respect at Gateway,” he said. “And I respect Denny every bit as much, if not more. Or I did, so I don’t think I would have raced any differently than I did at Gateway.”

Hamlin’s ‘perfect weekend’ at Pocono

Denny Hamlin managed two rare feats on Sunday afternoon at Pocono Raceway, but you might have only heard focus on one. Hamlin was victorious in the NASCAR Cup Series race. That fact is well-known and indisputable. But the way in which Hamlin went …

Denny Hamlin managed two rare feats on Sunday afternoon at Pocono Raceway, but you might have only heard focus on one.

Hamlin was victorious in the NASCAR Cup Series race. That fact is well-known and indisputable. But the way in which Hamlin went about claiming the victory while racing Kyle Larson has resulted in enough controversy and conversation to distract from the accomplishment.

Yes, Hamlin overshadowed himself.

Take a break for a minute of analyzing Hamlin versus Larson and whether it was fair or foul or whether or not they did or didn’t touch, and remember that Hamlin won for the 50th time in his NASCAR Cup Series career. A big number and an even bigger accomplishment for any driver.

“Stuff like this doesn’t sit in for a while,” Hamlin said post-race, where he spent most of the time being asked about the incident with Larson. “Actually, (I) exchanged texts with [Matt] Kenseth over the week. We were just reminiscing about old races. I was definitely filling him up about how great he was; he was a great teammate.

“The wins he had. He was so underrated. I told him that’s the one thing that we’re always of is not appreciating it in the moment.

“When you retire, and you’ve got a bunch of time, you’re sitting there on your rocker on your back porch, you’re thinking about ‘What have I accomplished in the sport?’ These things take a long time to sit in. They really do. We’re in the heat of the moment now.”

Pocono was a fitting place for Hamlin to get No. 50. It was where he earned his first career victory in the series in 2006. And his second that same year. The triangle in Pennsylvania has been a Hamlin place since the beginning, and he now has seven victories at the racetrack.

Or eight if you ask him. The disqualification from last year is not forgotten.

“It takes time,” Hamlin continued about his latest and biggest win. “I never thought I’d get an opportunity in the Cup Series. Luckily, J.D. Gibbs took a chance and Joe Gibbs took a chance on me nearly 20 years ago. To get my 50th win, it comes (at) the track that I got my first; it certain is special.

“I knew every weekend I go into it thinking, ‘Man, this would be the perfect weekend for it because there’s always the right time to win.’ There are just little things. My old car chief, Spider that works at Joe Gibbs Racing, found in his old toolbox my grandmother’s St. Christopher (medal). I get in my car for practice, and it’s sitting on my dash. I’m like, I hadn’t seen that thing. I thought it was lost. My mom would put that in there before the race on the dash. I sat down and said, ‘Well, we’re winning this weekend.’

“Those things don’t happen by accident.”

That’s now seven wins for Hamlin at Pocono… or is it eight? Motorsport Images

There are only three active drivers ahead of Hamlin on the all-time Cup Series wins list: Jimmie Johnson (84), Kyle Busch (63), and Kevin Harvick (63). Sunday’s victory broke Hamlin from a tie with Tony Stewart at 49 and moved him into a tie with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson at 50.

And that puts Hamlin into a three-way tie at 11th on the all-time wins list.

“(I’m) just really happy to win it for the team, the whole team,” Hamlin said. “Chris [Gabehart] and his team on the pit box. The guys in the war room, the guys in the fab shop. I’ve been really lucky to be part of an organization that carried me for many years to many, many victories – like a lot.

“Not everyone gets the opportunity to go from racing late models to racing for Joe Gibbs Racing in 18 months in the Cup Series. It’s hard to do. It really is. But luckily, they believed in me, gave me time to get going and the rest is history.”

Hamlin admittedly drove as hard as he could against Larson for a win that was going to mean so much. There was his 50th career victory in the balance, his seventh at Pocono to make him the all-time wins leader at the track, as well as the 600th national event win for Toyota.

Chris Gabehart, Hamlin’s crew chief, reminded his driver of those numbers late in the race. In fact, it was over the No. 11 team’s radio before the restart that Hamlin would use up Larson for the race lead.

Gabehart ran through the numbers before saying, “I don’t know how to motivate you more than that. Find a way.”

Hamlin did – the disdain of Larson and the critics.

“Denny doesn’t like cheerleaders, he’ll tell you that,” Gabehart said. “I think every now and then focus is required of anyone. I say that because these moments are so hard to get to. To even have an opportunity to compete for a win, let alone all those things we just mentioned, all those metrics, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“All those things are never going to line up at once. So he’s hot and sweaty and in that cocoon, focused on this vibration, getting these tires clean enough. I just wanted to get in his mind one moment and remind him this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, find a way to go get it. If I spend every minute of my day in that manner, it’s never going to mean something when I step up and say it that clearly because it’s always level-10 cheering.

“I just wanted to focus him on the moment and just remind him of how important the moment was.”

A three-time Daytona 500 champion, a Coca-Cola 600 winner, a three-time Southern 500 winner, and a winner of 50 races overall. Hamlin is a future NASCAR Hall of Famer, and easily one of the best to have not won a NASCAR Cup Series championship. A championship and win on the Indianapolis oval are all that he hasn’t accomplished.

And when it comes to his latest accomplishment, on the one hand, Hamlin will never forget his Pocono victory because he’ll always be reminded of how he earned it. But on the other hand, it might be the reason why the fact that it was his 50th is a bit of a footnote.

Hamlin offers up the other side of the Larson Pocono feud coin

Denny Hamlin disagrees that he didn’t race Kyle Larson with respect late Sunday at Pocono Raceway. “We’re racing for the win, are you (expletive) me?” Hamlin said. “If I’m going to give anyone respect, it’s Kyle Larson just because I respect him as …

Denny Hamlin disagrees that he didn’t race Kyle Larson with respect late Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

“We’re racing for the win, are you (expletive) me?” Hamlin said. “If I’m going to give anyone respect, it’s Kyle Larson just because I respect him as a race car driver, and I think he’s probably the best. Certainly, he’s got my respect.

“But (expletive), we’re all racing for a win. I guarantee you, roles reversed, it goes the same way.”

Hamlin and Larson either touched or didn’t, depending on which one you ask, with seven laps to go through Turn 1. The two were running side-by-side in close proximity through the corner and Larson hit the wall.

Under the caution, which came out for an unrelated incident involving Justin Haley in Turn 2, Larson drove up alongside Hamlin and hit him in the driver’s side door. Hamlin went on to win the race while Larson finished 21st.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver did admit he was going to drive as hard as he could to chase a milestone victory. It was the 50th of his Cup Series career and the 600th NASCAR national event victory for Toyota.

“That’s why I left him more than a lane off Turn 2,” Hamlin said.

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He also disagreed that Larson has never apologized to him in the past for on-track incidents. According to Hamlin, he’s been run off course at road courses by Larson and got an apology phone call.

“I said, ‘I’m going to stand my ground next time,’” Hamlin said before then mentioning Alex Bowman, who spun in front of him earlier in the day. “I put both of those guys, the No. 48 and the No. 5, in an aero situation. Didn’t touch either one. How can you wreck someone you don’t touch?

“They made a decision to either let off the gas and race side-by-side or hit the gas and hit the wall. I put them to those decisions. I didn’t overshoot the corner. I was behind. I tried to get position on him, knew it was going to be tight off of (Turn) 2, but always made sure I left a lane, or more than a lane.

“These Next Gen cars…you get in that spot near the car on the outside, it sends them very tight. It just tightens their aero balance. Everyone knows it. Kyle is one of the best aero blockers in our field. I knew once he got the lead and it was green, there was no way I was going to go around him, so I backed off and just waited, tried not to burn up my (expletive) for a restart later because he knows how to put you in a situation to just kill your car.

“We waited. We pounced at the right time. He didn’t get his right sides clean, drove in the corner just too far, let us get beside him. I thought we were going to race it out off of (Turn) 2. He got in the fence.”

Dillon and Reddick remain at odds over Pocono contact

Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick differed on their contact Sunday at Pocono Raceway, after which Dillon threw his helmet at his former teammate. The two made contact on lap 42 going into Turn 1 when Reddick hit Dillon in the left rear. Dillon’s No. 3 …

Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick differed on their contact Sunday at Pocono Raceway, after which Dillon threw his helmet at his former teammate.

The two made contact on lap 42 going into Turn 1 when Reddick hit Dillon in the left rear. Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet slammed the outside wall and then slid down the track and to a stop in the grass.

“I thought I was doing the right thing going into the middle lane of the track,” Dillon said. “I wasn’t on the bottom lane, I was going to hold the middle. He drove up into me from the bottom lane. I just heard one interview where (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. thought I started coming down (into) the corner, and that’s kind of natural to enter the corner that way.

“I don’t know (but) I’m (expletive) about it because, from my perspective, I couldn’t see him. I know I was three-wide, but my left front is in front of him. That’s the bigger thing. I’m in front of him, so I didn’t come down egregiously. He drove in the corner deep enough to try and get me back, to get his right front in front of my left front. That was not possible with how I drove in the corner, and he wiped me out at the fastest part of the track.”

After climbing out of his car under his own power, Dillon threw his helmet at Reddick when the field drove back by the scene.

“I was just trying to hit him,” Dillon said. “I’m (expletive) I didn’t lead it; they were going probably 65mph. If I was started at the front of the car, I probably would have got him in the door.”

Reddick, who departed Richard Childress Racing to join 23XI Racing this season, denied there was anything intentional at play. In acknowledging he knew Dillon didn’t have a lot of room, Reddick wasn’t trying to make a squeeze move or run him up the racetrack.

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In the immediate aftermath of the race, Reddick only had the replay to go by. However, he plans on looking at SMT data to get a better understanding of what happened even as he said by the time he realized what Dillon was doing, he was going for the brake pedal.

“The biggest thing is I’m glad he’s OK because that’s a big hit,” Reddick said. “But we’re three wide, I’m trying to make it into the corner and I had one plan of approach and he had another, and unfortunately, just made contact. We hadn’t really had any moments today or anything really to put us in a spot where we would intentionally run into each other.”

Reddick was also ready for the helmet throw. He saw Dillon wind up and go for it but wasn’t sure where the helmet landed.

“I thought I missed it,” Reddick said. “It doesn’t count then if it hit the ground first.”

Reddick finished second. Dillon left Pocono with his seventh DNF of the season.

“I’m not really (mad) about (the hit), I’m just (mad) about (how) it hasn’t been a great season for us,” Dillon said. “We’re having a pretty solid run, minding our own. He knows why he got to that position which is because the No. 6 (Brad Keselowski) got tight off the corner and he got a run, tried to split us three wide, and we wrecked into Turn 1.”

Hamlin ruffles Larson’s and fans’ feathers en route to Pocono win

Denny Hamlin prevailed in a tight door-to-door bump-and-go pass on Kyle Larson with seven laps remaining to claim a historic all-time best seventh NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway – the win in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 also marking …

The race ended under caution for a last lap incident elsewhere on track, and the Pocono crowd voiced its displeasure, booing loudly as Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led the field to pit road at the 2.5-mile track after the checkered flag. Hamlin, 42, maintained the action was just close-quarter racing for a win. Larson, who finished 21st after the contact, disagreed and was none too happy with his good friend and golf partner.

“Both guys wrecked themselves,’’ Hamlin said of Larson and contact he had earlier with Larson’s teammate Alex Bowman. “There was a lane. He (Larson) missed the corner first and evidently didn’t have his right side tires clean and when he gassed up and got going again, you have an option in those positions to either hold it wide open and hit the fence or lift and race it out.

“Those were choices they made. I didn’t hit either one of them. Didn’t touch them.’’

“I love it, I love it,’’ Hamlin said, acknowledging the boos.

“I thought we had the best car and the strategy worked out. Just so happy we’re winning these races we should win.’’

What are your thoughts on the Denny Hamlin & Kyle Larson incident? pic.twitter.com/LPrSv24OhN

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 23, 2023

Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, did not mince words after climbing out of his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Instead of a top-5 finish – or possible victory – he recovered from the incident to cross the finish line 21st.

“First off, really proud of my team, they got us in position to race for the win,’’ said Larson, who did earn the Stage 2 win – his third of the year. “We got spun early (in the race) and the car was never really the same after that, but we played the strategy really well to get us up there. Just unfortunate.

“I’ve been cost a lot of good finishes by him throughout my career, and I know he says that I race a certain way, but I don’t think I’ve ever had to apologize to him about anything, not that I’m sure he’ll say, ‘I’m sorry,’ after this but it is what it is.

“Just move on and try to go to Richmond, where we won earlier this year.

“It is what it is. Yeah, we’re friends. Yes, this makes things awkward. But he’s always right. All the buddies know, Denny’s always right. It is what it is. I’m not gonna let it tarnish our friendship off track. But I am (mad), and I feel like I should be (mad).

“I think at this point I have the right,’’ Larson said of potentially racing Hamlin differently on track going forward. “Like I’ve said, I’ve never had to apologize to him about anything I’ve done on the racetrack. I can count four or five times where he’s had to reach out to me and say, ‘Sorry, I’ve put you in a bad spot there.’ So eventually, like he says, you have to start racing people a certain way to get the respect back.’’

Hamlin earned Toyota its 600th career win in the three NASCAR national series combined and led his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. across the finish line. Tyler Reddick, who drives for the 23XI Racing Toyota team that Hamlin is part-owner of, finished third. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and the remaining two JGR cars of rookie Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell rounded out the top six.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Harrison Burton and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10. It marked the second top-10 of the season for the 22 year old Burton. The effort from Elliott leaves him 59-points out of the 16-driver playoff pool with five more regular season races remaining for the 2020 series champion to race for another trophy, after missing six races in 2023.

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Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, the race polesitter William Byron, led the most laps (60) of the day, but finished 24th. He now trails Truex by 30 points for the regular season title.

Varying pit strategies – and in particular on the final green flag run – changed the leaderboard in the last 30-40 laps of the race. Some drivers that hadn’t run top five all day postponed their last stop hoping for a caution flag. However, the day’s strongest cars were in position to settle the trophy; some – such as Larson and Hamlin – on a two-tire pit stop and some – such as Truex and Byron – with four fresh tires.

There were 11 cautions on the day and incidents on three consecutive restarts after the first stage break impacted the playoff situations of multiple drivers.

The first re-start following the stage break not only involved the stage winner Joey Logano, but also collected Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez who went into the race a mere one point behind Michael McDowell for that 16th and final playoff position. McDowell’s car suffered some damage too, but he was able to drive on. Logano’s No. 22 Penske Racing Ford was towed back and repaired but Suarez’s No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet pit needing extensive work and ultimately drove back to the garage.

With five races remaining, Suarez dropped to 18th in the championship standings and his deficit to 16th place McDowell now stands at 23 points..

“At the end of the day it’s our fault; we shouldn’t be back there with those guys, squirrels,’’ a frustrated Suarez said, adding, “It was a racing incident, but we shouldn’t be racing those guys. We can only control what we can control.”

The summer run to the playoffs continues next week with the Cook Out 400 Sunday afternoon at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Harvick is the defending race winner. Larson won at Richmond this spring.

RESULTS

NASCAR’s towing operation ‘just doesn’t make any sense’ to Logano

Joey Logano wants NASCAR to find a better way of getting a car back to pit road when they are stuck on four flat tires as he was Sunday at Pocono Raceway. “It just doesn’t make any sense,” Logano said. “We’ve been fighting these cars for two years …

Joey Logano wants NASCAR to find a better way of getting a car back to pit road when they are stuck on four flat tires as he was Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Logano said. “We’ve been fighting these cars for two years now with four flat tires when a car spins out and you get this long, horrible ride back. It’s rough. Your head is bouncing around in there.

“It’s stupid. It’s just really dumb that we can’t just put four tires on a truck.”

The incident happened on lap 36 when the field went into Turn 1 to start the second stage. Logano, who had won the first stage, was cycled to mid-pack as the field was split on strategy and the No. 22 team pitted after the stage. Logano was tagged from behind when he tried to take a run through the center.

He spun to the outside wall, hitting on the driver’s side. In the process, all four tires went flat and the safety crews initially tried to push Logano around the track. The Next Gen car, however, becomes stuck on the track with four flat tires, and Logano needed to be towed back to pit road and in the process, lost multiple laps.

It was when his Ford Mustang was drug from Turn 1 to pit road that Logano felt the most damage was done. He was forced to exit the race after not meeting the minimum speed.

“If we can put four tires on one of (the tow trucks) with a jack and an impact that can just change the tires and let us come back, instead of dragging the car two miles around the racetrack… It’s just stupid,” Logano said. “It’s not fun for anybody — the poor guy driving the tow truck, the poor driver getting his head knocked around for two miles, and the poor team that’s got to fix the underbodies of these things after they get dragged around…

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“It’s dumb. I don’t know. It is what it is, but it seems like it has a very easy fix. I’ve brought this up before, but I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Logano finished 35th, the second driver out of the race. He retired a few laps after Daniel Suarez was forced to do so after also being caught up in the same incident.

Even if Logano was able to get four new tires on his car to drive back to pit road, he doesn’t believe he would have stayed in the race. While being drug around didn’t help, the damage was already done from hitting the wall. Getting Logano off the track quicker would have saved the field from wasting laps and Logano getting rocked around in the car.

“Here’s the deal — I talked to someone today and they (the track crew) see a race car once a year,” Logano said. “That’s not fair to the people working out there on the racetrack that they don’t have a lot of experience. They may be doing it for years, so don’t put it in the context that these guys don’t know what they’re doing, but the experience level of doing something every single week versus seeing a race car once a year is tough.

“That’s really hard and we’re all in a position out there while I’m sitting there watching cars go by me with a chance of getting a good finish being left as I’m trying to communicate to somebody and they can’t hear me, or listen, or they’re trying to figure out what to do. They don’t know that you can’t push a car with four flat tires on it. The car doesn’t steer. I’m trying to tell them to hook it up and they kept trying to push me. We wasted a lap-and-a-half before they tried to hook it. There’s a better way to do it.”

‘I got used up’ Larson says of Hamlin’s ‘dirty’ move at Pocono

Kyle Larson felt he was “used up” by Denny Hamlin as it was the only way the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was going to beat him Sunday at Pocono Raceway. “He gave me a real push down the frontstretch and I was nervous of the move that happened because he …

Kyle Larson felt he was “used up” by Denny Hamlin as it was the only way the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was going to beat him Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

“He gave me a real push down the frontstretch and I was nervous of the move that happened because he made it work on Ross (Chastain) last year, and he dirtied him up,” Larson said. “He knows (he did), and Ross deserved it last year for all those times he got into Denny. I felt like I didn’t. I deserved to be raced with respect, at least through Turn 1, but he knew that was going to be his only opportunity to beat me with how bad dirty (it) was.

“I got used up. It’s just unfortunate. I feel like 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, I’m sorry. I messed up there a little bit,’ or ‘Sorry, I put you in a bad spot,’ or ‘Sorry, I hurt your day.’ I’ve never had to do that to him. Sure, maybe there’s been times he’s been frustrated with me, but I’ve never hurt his results. I should have at least been top two; I finished 21st.”

Larson and Hamlin were racing tight off Turn 1 on a restart with seven laps to go. The two went up the track coming off the corner with Larson running out of room on the outside lane and hitting the wall. Hamlin went by into the race lead.

A caution for an unrelated incident quickly followed. Under the yellow flag, Larson drove up alongside Hamlin on the frontstretch and hit Hamlin in the driver’s side door.

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“In my eyes, hey, I could have 10 more playoff points, two more wins right now if not for (Hamlin),” Larson said. “Yeah, I’m (mad) and I should be.”

Larson missed out on a win at Kansas Speedway earlier this year in a battle with Hamlin. On the last lap, the No. 11 ran up on the back of Larson off Turn 2 and the Hendrick car hit the wall. But Larson said that situation, unlike Pocono, was more a racing deal.

“I would have loved to have got to racing him through (Turns) 3 and 4 there,” Larson said. “Today, I didn’t even get to race him. He ran into him before I ever hit the wall. And we all know the aero stuff that goes on when somebody gets that close to you. His hood flaps were up. He was touching me before we ever got to the exit.

“I obviously lost the handle on my car, was out of the throttle, and hit the wall and tore up my car and finished 21st.”

Because the two are friends, Larson said things will be awkward, but what happens on the racetrack stays on the racetrack. He feels he does a good job of separating those two things.

“He’s still a friend,” Larson said. “He races me like an (expletive) but is still a friend. I’m just mad right now. I’m sure he’ll say some dumb stuff on Monday night or whatever, and I’ll get more mad for a little while and then I’ll eventually get over it.”

Suarez rues being mired in pack leading to early Pocono exit

Daniel Suarez’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff hopes took a blow Sunday at Pocono Raceway with an exit after the first stage. He was collected in a restart crash on lap 36 going into Turn 1. The Trackhouse Racing driver was running on the inside lane …

Daniel Suarez’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff hopes took a blow Sunday at Pocono Raceway with an exit after the first stage.

He was collected in a restart crash on lap 36 going into Turn 1. The Trackhouse Racing driver was running on the inside lane when he was tagged by Bubba Wallace, who was sandwiched between Suarez and Michael McDowell as the field took evasive action when Joey Logano was sent spinning.

Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet hit the outside wall with the nose. The team made initial repairs to the car, but it began leaking oil when Suarez returned to the track.

“I got turned around on the right rear on a very fast straightaway,” Suarez said. “Just lucky we didn’t get wrecked big time, but unfortunately, we couldn’t continue anymore. But at the end of the day, it’s our fault. We shouldn’t be back there with those guys.

“We fought the balance of the car in the first stage. We lost a bunch of track position. We kind of got it back a little bit. I felt like once we got the balance, we were going to be able to drive the front. But we didn’t get the opportunity to and got wrecked before that. It was a racing incident, but we shouldn’t be back there racing with those guys anyway.”

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Suarez started 17th and finished 12th in the first stage. He and Logano were among the teams who elected to pit at the stage break and were lined up mid-pack for the restart.

“(I’m) definitely frustrated because I feel like we’re better than this,” Suarez said. “I’m frustrated also because I feel like guys are wrecking each other, and I’m the one that ended up out of the race without being in their mess. But what are you going to do – sometimes you’re on the good end of it, and sometimes you’re on the bad end of it. Unfortunately, today, I was on the short end of it.”

The first driver out of the HighPoint.com 400, Suarez will finish 36th. He will fall further behind the cutline after entering the weekend one point out of a playoff spot.

“It’s not great; it’s not ideal,” Suarez said. “But I have to control what I can control, and I cannot control some of the other guys. Like I said, in my mind, we shouldn’t be racing back there. We had a car capable of running in the top 10, top 15 at least, and we were running in the 20s because we missed the balance of the car in the first stage.

“We just have to be better.”