Chase Briscoe said that he wouldn’t have made the move that cost Denny Hamlin the win if he had known that he had a penalty.
Briscoe and Hamlin went to Turn 1 of the second overtime in the inaugural NASCAR Cup race on the Indy Road Course, with the former chasing the latter. However, Briscoe ran off the course and came back to it through the grass. He was issued a ‘stop-and-go’ penalty, which meant that he could not win the race ahead of Hamlin.
But without realizing this information, Briscoe still hunted for the win, thereby hitting the right-rear of Hamlin’s car, which made the No. 11 Toyota spin. A.J. Allmendinger, who was behind Hamlin and Briscoe, took the opportunity and won the race.
“You can’t race that way” – Hamlin hit out at Briscoe’s “lack of awareness” for costing him first win of the season
Hamlin didn’t like Briscoe’s “lack of awareness” in the race but there were no hard feelings for the driver. Briscoe on his part said that he wouldn’t have tried the pass had he known he had a penalty.
“If I knew I had a penalty, there was no need for me to even try to pass him for the win. If I would have known that earlier, I would have done my ‘stop and go’ and went on,” he said. “As I understood it, at that moment in time I could still win the race and I was going for it and got into him accidentally.
“I think at the end he kind of started to understand. He has been there when you are trying to get your first win and especially in our playoff situation, you have to do what you have to do. That is what I get paid to do and that is what I was trying to do.”
If what Briscoe said is true, then it is only right of him to try out to do things that could get you the first win of your career. As for Hamlin, it might turn out to be a costly miss as he now fell behind Kyle Larson in the Cup Series standings.