Denny Hamlin recently revealed his unexpected role in post-race drama between Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar after Sunday’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series San Diego race. Speaking on his podcast, Hamlin admitted that he accidentally fueled the post-race drama by sharing Heim’s phone number with Hocevar.
The tension began after Heim spun Hocevar in the closing laps at the San Diego race. After the race, a fan warned Heim that the Spire Motorsports driver will remember this. Afterwards, Heim responded by posting an old video clip of Hocevar, in which he could be heard saying, “Well just get the f** out of the way… just move,” using the footage to highlight Hocevar’s own aggressive racing mindset.
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Hocevar, who is known for his fierce racing style, fired back with an image of the fictional serial killer from the series Dexter, leaving fans anticipating future payback on the track.
Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast about the situation, Denny Hamlin shared how he unexpectedly became involved in Heim-Hocevar post-race social media drama. The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver revealed that Hocevar had contacted him shortly after the race asking for Heim’s phone number.
“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.
Heim capitalized on the chaos and overtook Tyler Reddick with three laps to go to secure his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Naval Base Coronado. Carson Hocevar ended up finishing 19th after the wreck.
Denny Hamlin reacts to Corey Heim’s maiden win at San Diego
Denny Hamlin is happy for Corey Heim after the latter secured his maiden Cup Series win. Heim is competing part-time in 2026, but he is set to join Hamlin’s co-owned 23XI Racing as a full-time driver starting in 2027.
In the post-race interview, reflecting on Heim’s San Diego win, Hamlin said:
“Really happy for Corey and that whole team. Dave Rogers (23XI Competition Director) doing such a good job, they are putting that fourth entry together and piecing together guys from around the shop and some development guys. We gave Corey an agenda this week that in each start his is our expectations, here’s what we want you to work on. I don’t think this was in the agenda for San Diego.”
Denny Hamlin finished P14 at San Diego following three consecutive wins. He is now just eight points behind leader Tyler Reddick to take the first spot in the regular season points standings.
Edited by Yash Soni