A chaotic finish in a key playoff race left multiple cars damaged and multiple drivers fuming, including Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott, with the two engaging in a heated exchange following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series semifinal race at Martinsville Speedway.
Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin have altercation after NASCAR playoff race at Martinsville
Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin were racing for a spot in NASCAR’s championship race when Hamlin crashed Elliott in the closing laps of Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville.
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Elliott was upset that Hamlin crashed him out of the lead in the closing laps of a race that, had he won, would’ve clinched Elliott’s spot in the championship finale. The contact cost Elliott the win and he expressed his displeasure by ramming Hamlin’s car after the race concluded. The two drivers then got out of their cars where they had words with one another.
Kyle Busch won the First Data 500 when he passed Hamlin, his teammate, on the final lap after the race was restarted. Hamlin said because of the stakes he was being aggressive, but had no intention of crashing Elliott, though he did want to shove him up the track.
“Well, (Elliott) said I wrecked him and obviously Ray Charles saw that,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, it wasn’t intentional, I just wanted to move him out of the way. I tried to get to his back bumper and slide him up the track and I just went too deep.”
Elliott disagreed with Hamlin’s version of events. Despite crashing into the outside wall, Elliott was able to continue and made it to the finish, placing 27th. He will have to win at either Texas Motor Speedway or Phoenix Raceway to qualify for the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“I got punted from behind and wrecked in Turn 3 leading the race,” Elliott said. “I don’t know what his problem was. It was unnecessary I hadn’t raced him dirty all day long. There was no reason for that and he comes over and talks to me a second ago and tells me he had somebody pushing him into Turn 3. I thought that was funny because there was nobody within two car lengths of him into Turn 3 behind myself.”
Hamlin finished seventh after contact with Busch caused him to slide backward. Hamlin was also caught up in a multicar accident on the frontstretch that blocked the track as the field crossed the finish line.
“Trying to get a race win, everyone wrecked everybody there at the end,” Hamlin said. “It was complete (expletive) chaos. Somebody got into the back of me and I wrecked too. It was just a mess at the end.”
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