Larson BLAMED for Iowa crash as team rue missed victory chance

Denny Hamlin has blamed Kyle Larson for the incident which saw both drivers finish outside the top 20 at the Iowa Corn 350.

Hamlin's no 11 car was sandwiched between Larson and the wall with 132 laps to go after the Hendrick Motorsports driver was tagged by Daniel Suarez.

READ MORE: Iowa Corn 350 Race Results: Blaney takes first win of season and sets personal record

Larson and Suarez came together on a restart as the pair attempted to round turn four three-wide with Brad Keselowski.

The wreck ruined what could have been a fourth win of the Cup Series season for Larson, who won pole for the inaugural running of the Iowa race and looked to have one of the fastest cars in the field on race day.

LARSON & HAMLIN CRASH!

The fastest car of the night looks to be out of contention as contact between the No. 5 and No. 99 sends Larson into Hamlin and the outside wall.

Quite the turn of events to start the final stage.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/j8ZCBPvhJT

— NASCAR on TSN (@NASCARonTSN) June 17, 2024

Who was at fault for Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin's crash?

Hamlin was only a passenger in the incident, the 43-year-old picking the wrong restart to run up high as Larson veered into the side of his Toyota and slammed both into the wall.

Reflecting on the crash, Hamlin was left frustrated: "You feel like with as fast as his [Larson's] car was - and he was that day - did he have to go get two cars right in that corner? Probably not, but that’s hindsight," he told the Actions Detrimental podcast.

"90% of the time it works, and you go on, you’re unscathed and you just gained multiple spots on a restart.

"It’s hard to second guess that for sure if you see a gap and an opening, usually you take it because you don’t think about ‘well this person is likely to misjudge the corner and run into me.’

"Of course, you always have to take into account the people you’re around when you do decide to put yourself in a vulnerable spot. It’s just one of those things where certainly the five team’s banging their heads against the hauler door because they clearly had one of the best if not the best car and got a bad finish out of it.”

Acknowledging the squandered shot at victory, Larson said after the race: "I wish I could have that restart back."

READ MORE: F1 announce FREE US TV channel for fans

Kyle Larson on the wreck that ended his chances to win at Iowa. pic.twitter.com/AJJhMBnluq

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 17, 2024

"I guess I could have just not gone to the middle and been more patient with how fast my car was and knowing who I was around,” he added. “I wanted to get as many cars as I could in the beginning of that little run, and it probably ended up biting me.”

“We made it [three-wide] until, I don’t know, the exit of the corner, and then I’m not sure if Suarez got loose underneath me or what happened. He got into my left rear and got me out of control.”

Suarez claimed he was initially not sure who was to blame, but felt the two cars above him on the road were lower than he expected.

READ MORE: McLaren star admits being SCARED of team's F1 car

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