In the fast-paced adrenaline-fueled environment of NASCAR, rivals are made at the sharpest of turns and smallest of bumps. Some let bygones be bygones with a quick chat in the pit box. For others, it lasts longer, covering entire seasons. Two of the top playoff contenders this season built one such feud exactly a year ago.

Thankfully for their fans, they extended an olive branch before the anniversary of their squabble at Texas Motor Speedway. But could one of them end up regretting it this weekend?

JGR’s Denny Hamlin looking for consecutive Texas win amid HMS drivers’ standoff

Denny Hamlin confidently strode into the next round, riding high on his victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver is now being hailed as the foremost championship contender this season. But the tides reversed for Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. The #24 driver qualified at the top of the table with an impressive five wins in the regular season. However, he couldn’t carry that consistency into the playoffs.

Although each driver would attempt to secure their spot in the Top 8, their strategies would vary depending on their current standing. Hamlin’s spectacular performances in the previous two races would afford him the luxury of banking on his top-notch skills. Byron, on the other hand, barely scrapped by a Top 10 finish in Bristol. Even more worrying was the race before at Kansas Speedway and its disappointing 15th-place finish.

Furthermore, Byron’s teammate, Kyle Larson, took away his limelight as the best-performing Hendrick Motorsports driver in the playoffs. With a victory at Darlington and Top 5 finishes in the next two races, Larson came out as the strongest title challenger in Rick Hendrick’s team. William Byron’s unceremonious removal as a prospect could lead to dire strategies and reckless driving.

The impact of this distraught impulsivity could affect the races of all the drivers in his vicinity. If that were to happen, the #11 driver would deplore his earlier forgiveness after Byron similarly cost Hamlin his race in Texas last year.

Here is last year’s incident, something Hamlin wouldn’t want to get into this Sunday.

Watch This Story: Denny Hamlin Points a Finger at NASCAR’s Intricate System for Teammate’s Dramatic Downfall

From Texas to Texas, a tale of two playoff contenders between two seasons

The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, 2022, saw the emergence of Byron’s retaliatory side. Akin to this year, Denny Hamlin and William Byron both qualified for the playoffs and raced for the next round in Texas. Hamlin coaxed the incident with a nudge to Byron’s Chevrolet. But the usually demure Byron took revenge and intentionally wrecked Hamlin’s Toyota., sprouting a rivalry that lasted the season.

In the spirit of sportsmanship, Hamlin invited the NASCAR champion to resolve their difference through his podcast. In Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin, Byron admitted his wish to send a message across but did not intend the scale of the damage. Byron explained, “When I got to under caution, I definitely meant to send a message, but when you went spinning through the infield, I was like, ‘on s**t, that’s not good’.”

Hamlin, to his credit, owned up to the part he played in initiating their feud. But the JGR driver moved past it because both of them qualified for the next round despite the altercation. Hamlin confessed, “I’m the one that, I crowded him and again, it was trying to manipulate his car to have to lift, and you know it all worked out. We both made the next round, so it all worked good.”

Denny Hamlin chalked it up as a one-off stumbling block. But a repeat this weekend would be an impenetrable obstacle in the ease of this camaraderie. Whether Hamlin would prolong his winning streak or succumb to the might of Rick Hendrick’s team, Texas would soon furnish all the answers.

Read More: As Denny Hamlin Gloats His Win at Bristol This Black Fact Will Surely Damper His Moral