Hamlin talks about Texas fight and Keselowski

Denny Hamlin

From the NASCAR Teleconference With #11-Denny Hamlin, the transcript, in part:

Q). Did you have any strong feelings, thoughts about what penalty should be for the fight last week and what are they?
DENNY HAMLIN: Not really. I don't really have any strong feelings about it one way or another. When things are as tense as they are and your whole season comes down to kind of one cut tire by somebody else, you're of course going to be upset. So who knows what should happen. But definitely it will probably be monetary, if anything.

Q). Obviously a lot of debate about the move that Brad Keselowski made when he collided with Jeff Gordon near the end of the Texas race, whether there was a hole there or not. I was wondering if you had a chance to look at the replay and what you thought of the move, is it a move you would have made? Do you think there was enough room to justify it and do the circumstances itself maybe sort of justify it?
DENNY HAMLIN: Well, I think going in, you know, I don't know what Brad thought. But I thought from my perspective, if I was in that car and shoes, that I would have to know that I'm not going to make it through that hole without having contact of some sort. That's fine. But if it costs somebody a bad day, you're going to have to expect retaliation, which I'm sure he did. So you'll have to take it with a grain of salt.

Q). Would you have made that move?
DENNY HAMLIN: I don't know. I think about that a lot and whether I would or would not. He was on fresher tires. So saying that that was his only opportunity to get the win may not necessarily be a true statement. He still had two laps to get around. And if you push the 48 there past the 24, it was a battle between him and the 48. I don't know. You know, it's tough for me to say. And his points position, his actual position, I didn't have the tires he had. So everyone has a different way of doing things. But I think a common feel amongst drivers is that what they call that, people are calling that a hole that that was a very small hole. And the car is call it six and a half, seven foot wide, that hole was six foot. It was not enough that a car was going to fit without being in contact. Somebody was going to have to pay the price. It was Jeff Gordon. And it made him have a bad day.

Q). Of course back to the fight. When you look at the aftermath of what happened, once you got home, what did you see there? What are all the variables involved that made that such an intense moment?
DENNY HAMLIN: Well, I think it was the moment where Brad kind of blew Jeff off was when it set things off and that kind of goes back to what I just talked about, with Nate. That the times that I've had tussles with Brad and other drivers, it's just oh, well, that's how a race is, just deal with it. As drivers, you're just looking at someone to say I'm sorry I ruined your day, I screwed up, oh, well, I apologize. When that doesn't get said, then immediately it just lights a fire in your stomach that all he cares — he doesn't have any remorse. It's just like oh, well, it's your problem. And I think that just lights a fire in your insides, especially when you just had a bad day and your season could have just rested on that one mistake or whatever you want to call it. I think that that really set things off. I think if Brad would have talked to Jeff and said, man, I was going for a hole. It was my only chance, you know, I'm really sorry it cut your tire, I think it goes totally different. Instead, it was oh, well, sorry, bud, you left a hole. If he did it to me I would have had the same reaction as Jeff. No question. I think that's what escalated it the most.

Q). Is it a stretch to say that Brad is the most disliked driver in the garage?
DENNY HAMLIN: I don't know. I can't speak for many other guys. But I mean it's just — there's a lot of animosity. And that's all that you can really say. And so I don't know. It's just something that's happened and a lot of built-up frustration over the years.