NASCAR: Hamlin shoulders blame for four-car wreck

A slight misjudgement of aerodynamics by Denny Hamlin inadvertently triggered a four-car crash involving some of the top contenders on Saturday night in the Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.

The incident began when Hamlin split the middle between Brad Keselowski and laps-down Kyle Larson. Hamlin had already recovered from a pair of speeding penalties on pit road earlier in the night and the aggression bit him when he and Keselowski both spun in the turbulent air.

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Hamlin's pass on the outside actually sucked Keslowski around but the turbulence also got Hamlin loose. Tires squealing, Keselowski spun sideways in front of the field but avoided further contact.

At the same time, Hamlin fish-tailed his right rear into Larson while Joey Logano, directly behind the incident, had nowhere to go but hard into Hamlin's Toyota once it glanced off the outside retaining wall.

The damage was terminal for both Logano and Hamlin, the latter of whom took responsibility.

"I was going in there three-wide," Hamlin said after the crash. "I wasn't letting off and (Larson) was just too close. It wasn't his fault by any means, but we were both trying to drive in there to clear each other and I just got loose – and I mean that's crazy because there was no contact, but both me and (Keselowski) got loose there.

"It's a shame because I just screwed us on pit road twice. Our car was a fast car today. I just didn't show it. We were just in the back because I sped twice. I've got to get better on pit lane to give us a chance and then I was just going for it there because I knew our car had some speed."

Logano brushed off the incident as a byproduct of hard racing and said there were no hard feelings.

"It just looked like [Keselowski] got loose and then [Hamlin] got loose," Logano said. "I was hoping [Hamlin] would come down the hill and when you're in the smoke you can't see anything. I hit the wall, so I knew where that was and I just kept riding and riding and hoping [Hamlin] would come down the hill because I couldn't see and he stayed up there and I got him right in the door. It's unfortunate.

"...That's just racing and things happen sometimes."

Keselowski survived to a 10th-place finish while Larson was 35th, Hamlin 37th and Logano 38th.