BRISTOL, Tenn. - The Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano feud flared up once again on Sunday with the two teams getting involved in a shoving match in the middle of the infield at the conclusion of the Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Bristol 2013: Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano crews scuffle after Sprint Cup race
Denny Hamlin and Logano had to be separated in the infield following the Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The argument stemmed from an accident between the two earlier in the race.
Hamlin made contact with Logano, sending the latter into the wall, while fighting for second place on lap 347 and the No. 22 team was unable to recover. He finished 17th, the last car on the lead lap while Hamlin blew a tire in the closing laps and finished in 23rd.
Logano was the first out of his car and ran over to Hamlin’s door, leaning in to share a few select words before crew members separated the two. Logano wouldn’t share exactly what he said to Hamlin and felt it was not retaliation for a scuffle at Daytona because he feels as though he never did anything to wrong Hamlin in the first place.
“It’s just him driving like an idiot, that’s all,” Logano shared after the race.
The two had several serious conversations about the racing at Daytona while at Phoenix two weeks ago but Hamlin didn’t think that contributed to today’s frustrations. He believes it was just a self-contained incident.
“You really got to control your car and he slipped up into me,” Hamlin said. “Really, he would have been in the garage with no radiator in it if I had not checked up twice... I didn’t mean to spin him out but his day was fine. He still had a bad day anyway for whatever reason and we finished bad too. It’s even.”
The two were teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing from 2008-2012 and Logano said he had put up with his temperament for years.
“I’m not going to get run over out there,” Logano said. “I’m not just going to not do something about it so I walked over and talked to him and now I’m done.”
Except he wasn’t. Logano soon took the battle to Twitter, sending Hamlin a very public tweet that seethed with vitriol.
Hey @dennyhamlingreat job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on
— Joey Logano (@joeylogano) March 17, 2013
And Hamlin’s rebuttal:
Why's that.. What would u do? "@joeylogano: Hey @dennyhamlingreat job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on"
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) March 17, 2013
Bristol Motor Speedway has long established a tradition of generating tempers and confrontations -- making it one of the most popular venues on the circuit.
See More:
