Denny Hamlin talks about incident with Danica Patrick (Update)
02/20/15
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| Denny Hamlin says Danica Patrick needs to do something about her car's loose setup |
Below, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin comments on the incident last night with Danica Patrick near the end of Budweiser Duel 2.
What happened with Danica Patrick?
"I was just trying to get – push her (Danica Patrick) – and get close, but I didn't – no contact made her spin. I just said, 'You've got to tighten her car up.' I can't predict who has a loose setup or not. I mean, we're superspeedway racing. I treat her as equal as anyone on the race track. She deserves her spot here, but you have to be able to run close to somebody on a superspeedway. You have to have your car stable enough to handle those situations and, to me, it's not much different than what it was with the 22 (Joey Logano) and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) last week only I wasn't pushing her. I was just close to her and her car got loose and she spun. Thank goodness she got her way in the 500. I didn't want to be responsible for that. I treat her as an equal on the race track. I'm not going to say, 'It's Danica, so I've got to make sure I just leave some extra room.' If you're out here in the Cup Series, you have to be able to handle those situations."
What kind of relationship do you have with Danica?
"I've got a great relationship with both of them (Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart). Danica is one of my better friends in this garage and Tony is too. They know I've got no intentions with those guys. That whole team – I've got a great relationship with them. Trust me, I'm sitting there shaking my head when she spun out, but there's nothing you can do. You can't treat anyone – you can't allow more room because of somebody different when you're trying to go forward. I'm trying to help her efforts and I just – I got too close to her I guess."
Will you race any different around her on Sunday?
"From my standpoint, I've got to give more room. Obviously, whatever is going on, her car is very, very loose and so I'll know in the back of my head I can't get but so close to her car because it will – it takes it out of her control."