NASCAR Cup Series points leader Denny Hamlin addressed the incident from Sunday’s race at Sonoma that resulted in him spinning out. The driver of the No. 11 had a top-10 run going on the California road course prior to the spin.
A lot has been made of the on-track collision since Sunday, in regards to whether or not Carson Hocevar was to blame. On the most recent episode of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast, Hamlin cleared the air on what he believed unfolded.
Hamlin on the Sonoma incident: ‘Got the worst end of it’
On the ninth lap of Sunday’s final stage at Sonoma, Hamlin was sitting in the seventh position.
As the field dove into the fourth turn, Hamlin’s No. 11 was hit from behind by Hocevar’s No. 77, causing the former to spin out. Hamlin fell outside of the top 30 following the incident, but battled back to finish 26th.
Since the incident, onboard camera footage from Alex Bowman, who was directly behind Brad Keselowski, showed that contact from Bowman to Keselowski potentially forced Hocevar into Hamlin.
With a number of factors involved in the spin-out, Hamlin could not pin the blame on one particular driver.
“It just seemed like the data is too messy to really lock in on one person. I think it’s like 33, 33, 33 (percent) of the 77, the 6 and the 48. What was disappointing is that they came from so far back. It’s like, I’m four car lengths clear of these guys, what are they doing running into the back of me? They just kept shoving and, unfortunately, I got the worst end of it,” Hamlin said.
Still, the 64-time Cup Series winner does not believe Hocevar intentionally wrecked him.
“Yes, Carson could’ve done a better job, but I don’t think he came into the corner with reckless abandonment. Usually you can tell intent through data. You can’t say, ‘I didn’t mean to hook ‘em,’ when your steering wheel turns towards them. It’s just too messy,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin wishes everyone was not ‘so careless’ in Sonoma incident
While Hamlin maintained his opinion that not one of the three drivers involved in his spin-out did anything on purpose, the Virginia native felt they could have been more mindful.
However, Hamlin acknowledges he took the brunt of an incident that happens often at Sonoma Raceway.
“All of them had somewhat of a role and I got the bad end of it. Wish they weren’t so careless, but there’s been many people that have gotten spun like I did in that race,” Hamlin said.
As previously noted, Hamlin managed to leave Sonoma with the Cup Series points lead. After Tyler Reddick commanded the top spot for the first 17 races, it was the first points lead change of the 2026 season.
Reddick, who drives for 23XI Racing co-owned by Hamlin, won five of the first nine races. That included an unprecedented three straight to start the season.
Hamlin has gained ground on Reddick in recent weeks. After going on a three-race win streak at Nashville, Michigan, and Pocono, coupled with troubles for Reddick, the veteran driver taken over the points lead with eight races left in the regular season.
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