NASCAR admirers greeted Denny Hamlin with a smattering of boos on Sunday as he was launched ahead of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway in Virginia.

Hamlin was born in Florida but grew up in Chesterfield, Virginia – about 21 miles south of the observe. But even near the town wherever he was elevated, the No. 11 driver listened to it from the group.

The consternation toward Hamlin stemmed from how he was able to get close to Kyle Larson at Pocono very last 7 days. Hamlin ended up winning the race. Larson ended up in 14th whilst Hamlin took the heat for intense driving. Hamlin was accused of bumping Larson into the wall – an allegation he denied.

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Hamlin has presented no apologies for the move but rather pointed to NASCAR’s method to motivate intense driving. If there’s an difficulty, Hamlin suggested to get started there.

"That is what it was geared to do – give us the sense of urgency to ramp up and that normal-year overall performance issues to get to the last 4 with a shot," he mentioned Saturday. "The system is carrying out what it was intended to do."

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota, waits on the grid for the duration of qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Collection Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on July 29, 2023, in Richmond, Virginia. (Sean Gardner/Getty Photographs)

Hamlin explained he’s adjusted since acquiring spun out although leading in the past.

"If you have just one person keen to be aggressive and one particular person not, intense will gain each and every time," he included.

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Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota, appears on through qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Collection Cook dinner Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on July 29, 2023, in Richmond, Virginia. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Visuals)

Larson explained factors in between him and Hamlin had been "high-quality" and that the two exchanged textual content messages Friday night time. He agreed that the factors system encourages the intense driving but added that it "tends to make the men on the acquiring finish more mad as perfectly just mainly because of what is actually at stake and what is taken."

Larson claimed his battles with Kyle Busch previous month transformed his perspective toward his approach.

"I regard Kyle and that is why I raced him with regard at Gateway, and I regard Denny each little bit as significantly, if not a lot more, or I did," he claimed.

"I are inclined to blow issues above rather speedily. This time, I most likely have enable it linger on my mind-set a minimal bit this 7 days just because it's transpired more normally with him than any other driver in my vocation and also a acquire was taken."

Kyle Larson (5) rubs fenders with Denny Hamlin below warning throughout a NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, July 23, 2023, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (WHD Picture/Derik Hamilton)

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Hamlin started off third at Richmond. Larson began in 14th.

The contributed to this report.