Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin Spark Bud Shootout Practice Wreck

Boys, have at it.

That didn’t take long.

Denny Hamlin got into the back of Mark Martin roughly halfway through the first practice session of the season, the first of two sessions for the Budweiser Shootout.

Hamlin and Martin said they simply miscommunicated, but it took out both their cars, as well as those of Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick (being driven by Clint Bowyer).

Hamlin had a run on the outside and estimated he was going 5-10 mph faster than Martin. At first, Martin decided to cut up in front of Hamlin, but then thought better of it and moved up the track to give Hamlin the lane.

But Hamlin had decided to duck in behind Martin by then, and it resulted in a wreck.

“I was just trying to be cautious, so I was just going to pull in behind him,” Hamlin said. “You’ve got the two things going together…it happens.

“Seems like the cars are unstable when you get close to each other. It’s definitely a lot different.”

Said Martin: “Probably a case of both of us anticipating. I made an effort to give him the lane and he anticipated to get behind me.”

Both Martin and Hamlin seemed perfectly calm, but Biffle apparently wasn’t too pleased.

“Yeah, it’s aggressive bump-drafting – that’s what we were looking for,” he said. “Trust me, we’re not finished. What are we, 20-30 minutes into practice? It’s gonna be awesome.”