Carson Hocevar and Denny Hamlin employed some sneaky racing tactics during last weekend\u2019s race at Pocono, where they tricked their NASCAR Cup Series rival Brad Keselowski. <\/b><\/p>\n
\nKeselowski\u2019s chances of a victory at Pocono<\/a><\/b> came undone when he made a huge pit road error, mistakenly entering it when it was closed and was forced to fight his way back through the field.
<\/p>\n \nNASCAR HEADLINES:<\/b> Jeff Gordon issues Kyle Larson verdict as Cup Series team hit with multiple penalties<\/a>
<\/p>\n \nHowever, team radio has emerged from Pocono which highlights the gamesmanship from rivals Hocevar<\/a> and Hamlin, who both \u2018faked\u2019 following him in the pit road.
<\/p>\n \nHocevar\u2019s team originally warned him that the red light off was off, but he quickly clarified his intentions via the radio and said: “Yeah I know. I wanted to bait him. I didn’t want him to have him realize the mistake.”
<\/p>\n \nHamlin<\/a> went through a similar exchange with his team, who were relieved to hear him confirm he was playing similar games and said: \u201cYeah, I know. I just didn’t want to tip him [Keselowski] off.”
<\/p>\n Keselowski tricked by Hamlin and Hocevar<\/p>\n \nDespite the trickery from his rivals, Keselowski<\/a> refused to blame Hocevar and Hamlin for his mistake and instead admitted fault for entering the pit road.
<\/p>\n \n\u201cThis is my fault, let me just be clear with this,\u201d Keselowski told Prime Video on its post-race show.
<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe held pit road [closed under caution] every pit cycle for three laps. Normally, they hold pit road for one lap. So when you get to lap two, it\u2019s just an automatic pit. So when we were going down the short chute, the team said, \u2018pit this time,\u2019 and I had no reason to challenge them.
<\/p>\n \n\u201cUltimately, I hold the steering wheel and I\u2019m the one that\u2019s got to check. I didn\u2019t check the crew chief and the spotter, and that\u2019s my fault.\u201d
<\/p>\n \nLater in the race, a poorly timed caution flag ruined his strategy and Keselowski tumbled down the order into 24th, where he once again had to drive the wheels off his RFK Racing<\/a> car to re-enter the top 10.
<\/p>\n \nAt the end of the race at Pocono, Keselowski only had a ninth place finish to show for himself in what could have been a more successful weekend for the No. 6 team.
<\/p>\n