Denny Hamlin shared a lighthearted mix-up between himself and Carson Hocevar when the latter asked for Corey Heim’s number. Hamlin wasn’t aware of the San Diego incident between the two drivers.
Hocevar and Heim share a rather contentious history. The two wrecked each other out of the 2023 Truck Series championship finale. At the time, Heim was fined and docked points for his retaliatory move on Hocevar.
This time around, the reigning Truck champion dumped Hocevar en route to his maiden Cup Series win. The two later exchanged social media banter with cheeky digs.
In an interview with Dirty Mo Media, Hamlin shared a behind-the-scenes moment after Sunday’s Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado (via X/Jamie Oakes).
“We have to acknowledge that Corey did get in the back of Carson Hocevar and spun him out. I, interestingly enough, Carson texted me right after the race and said, ‘Hey, can you send me Corey’s number?’ “And I thought that’s nice of him, he wants to congratulate him. I had no idea (laughing). I had no idea he had spun him out. Sorry, Corey, I shared your number,” Hamlin said.
Corey Heim later had a touch-and-go moment with Tyler Reddick in the final laps. The season leader tried to pull off a dive bomb into Turn 5 and nearly wiped out Heim, but the 23XI teammate evaded Reddick and went wide.
To his credit, Reddick did slow down to give back the position. Denny Hamlin, meanwhile, finished P14 and walked away with a 23-point haul, 11 more than Reddick, who finished 25th after a flat tire.
Hamlin is now just eight points behind the No.45 driver.
Denny Hamlin comments on Corey Heim’s racecraft
Denny Hamlin heaped praise on Corey Heim after Sunday’s win. The team owner shared how Heim’s win was a welcome surprise, and that he’s ‘destined to do great things.’
“There’s like four different pieces of a race car driver that you got to have, and I just firmly believe Corey has all those and he has them already at a young age. He’s wise well beyond his years of age and his racecraft, and that is really, really hard. So it’s easy to get speed….but then to have the racecraft with it, that really is how you end up finding someone that can win you a lot of races in a championship,” Hamlin said in a post-race interview with SiriusXM NASCAR radio.
Denny Hamlin heads to Sonoma Raceway this weekend. He has a three-race run with a top-10 streak at the California track.
Despite his poor track record in road courses, Hamlin has a pole start and a runner-up finish at Sonoma. On the other hand, Tyler Reddick is currently on a two-race top-10 streak at Sonoma.
Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch hold the record for a four-race streak, the most of any active driver.
Read More:
Tyler Reddick Left Frustrated As Teammate Corey Heim Snatches San Diego Win: “It’s a Real Shame”
