CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — David Reutimann is not ready to forgive Denny Hamlin for the accident at Pocono Raceway that essentially ended his championship hopes.

“I’m not happy. I’m aggravated. I’m mad as heck,” Reutimann said Wednesday during an appearance for Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“I’m not sugarcoating any of that. I’m still really, really aggravated. Maybe we can get things sorted out.”

Hamlin had dominated much of Monday’s race, but late pit strategy had shuffled him back to 13th when he ran into Reutimann in his charge back to the front. He shoved Reutimann, who was running ninth, through the turn. The contact caused Reutimann to lose control of his car, bounce off the wall and into teammate Marcos Ambrose.

Hamlin went on to win the race, while Reutimann finished 29th and dropped three spots in the standings to 16th — 121 points out – with five races remaining before the Chase field is set. He entered Pocono in 13th place, just 68 points out of the top 12.

The two have not spoken, although Reutimann said Hamlin texted him an apology after the race that didn’t make him feel any better.

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“We can talk about it and I can get his take on it,” Reutimann said. “If he tells me he made a mistake and he’s sorry, then that’s the way it is. It doesn’t make you less aggravated or anything like that.”

Asked if it upset him further that Hamlin went on to win the race, Reutimann said “that didn’t help.”

Hamlin gave a detailed explanation of the incident following his win, taking blame for the contact but explaining how hard he was racing for the victory. He wanted the win, his first of the season, to honor his late grandmother, who had passed away three days before the race.

“It was a lot of emotion. I got guys in my mirror that I know that I’ve got to race for the win,” Hamlin said. “I’m racing for a win on a particular weekend where it means more than any other weekend. I think emotion was probably part of it.”

Reutimann said he’s not writing off the Chase yet, but knows it will be difficult to earn a berth after the Pocono accident. Next up is the road course at Watkins Glen, where he was 33rd in his only previous appearance and said he looks forward to “as much as a root canal.”

Still, it’s been a breakthrough season for the journeyman driver, who has helped legitimize Michael Waltrip Racing. He was in legitimate Chase contention for 20 weeks and won the first Sprint Cup Series race of his career at Lowe’s in May.

He also made the cover of industry magazine NASCAR Scene for the first time in his career this week, under the headline “Why Not Me?” Some team personnel have joked the Aug. 6 edition was much like the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.

“I am not a big believer in stuff like that, but my team, those guys are super superstitious about things like that,” he said.


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