Nobody holds a grudge in NASCAR quite like Denny Hamlin and the target of his ire this week is Noah Gragson and the Front Row Motorsports team.
At the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega, Gragson resisted efforts from Hamlin to get back into the lead lap. He found that Front Row Motorsports contributed to Gragson refusing to help him.
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Hamlin said he felt offended by that since he had shown Front Row a courtesy on the lead lap the week before. Now he’s threatening that he will show “no mercy” to Gragson in future races where he has the opportunity to do some retaliatory driving.
“No Mercy”
“Really? Okay… well, when I go to lap Noah at one of these races, I will make sure to have no mercy then. I mean that’s just, whatever. It’s the crew chief’s decision. It’s not Noah’s decision,” Hamlin said, via The Daily Express.
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“It all comes around, though. You try and do these little favors here and there and respectfully get those back. And you will get those back. But if you don’t then yeah, you remember [incidents likle this].”
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – JULY 29: Noah Gragson, driver of the #42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet, waits on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on July 29, 2023 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
Hamlin was still angry after saying all of that and added, “Well I am going ahead and getting fired up… how (redacted) knowing you can’t pass anyone that they said they’d take their penalty when the pit lane is closed. You can’t pass anyone… it’s a stupid call.”
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Gragson would finish ninth at the Jack Link’s 500 in Talladega, his best result in a Cup Series race since a fourth-place finish last year, which was also at Talladega.
Hamlin finished 15th, snapping a streak of three straight top-10 finishes.
Carson Hocevar reached the checkered flag for his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series win.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Apr 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the NASCAR section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
