“Could Have Been Avoided” – Denny Hamlin Admits True Intentions Behind $50,000 Ross Chastain Fiasco

Nothing seems to be going well with Denny Hamlin. Everything seems to have gone downhill after he publicly admitted wrecking Ross Chastain at Phoenix Raceway. For the incident, NASCAR penalized him with $50,000 and docked off 25 points. To add to his misery, just as he was getting confident that his appeal to the penalty would be upheld, the National Motorsports Appeal Panel took a U-turn and rejected it. Since then, Hamlin has spat out some eye-opening statements.

If NASCAR thought they could stop Hamlin from getting candid anymore, they have certainly got it wrong. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been more vocal than ever since the unfavorable outcome of his appeal. He even explained his true intentions behind the incident at Phoenix Raceway.

Denny Hamlin reveals his true intentions

It all started with Hamlin’s admission of intentional wrecking in a previous episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast. On the latest episode of his podcast, he detailed what actually happened with his appeal. He started off by narrating what he told the appeal panel.

He said, “I made contact with Ross Chastain during a green-white-checkered finish while contesting a position inside the top ten when my car began sliding up the racetrack entering turn one. I had a decision to make; either hit the brakes and let almost all my competitors around me pass with ease or fight for my position.”

The 3x Daytona 500 winner explained what influenced his thought process then. He said, “I chose to fight for my position, and by doing that, I made contact with Ross. It was a contact that could have been avoided. However, given my history with Ross for the last 12 months, what I chose to do, was not cut Ross a break.

“I chose to put him in a compromising position where he could either hit the brakes or we were going to make contact and I was going to be okay with either result. I’ve got no respect from him [Ross] so I chose not to give any.”

Hamlin believes that since it was just a contact from his side, NASCAR’s ruling of “manipulating the outcome” is quite invalid here. He said, “I didn’t wreck him, I didn’t spin him as NASCAR is contesting. I simply made contact that was avoidable contact—so minor that there was no vehicle damage done to either car. No caution was brought out and we both finished the race on the lead lap in 23rd and 24th.

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“No innocent bystanders were involved and it certainly did not affect the outcome of the winner as far as race manipulation is concerned.”

While the 42-year-old said this, he certainly left no stone unturned in making his case, even if it meant putting his fellow drivers on the line.

Denny Hamlin crucifies Hendrick Motorsports star in a bid to win his $50,000 penalty appeal

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Following his failed appeal, Hamlin disclosed more details he shared with the appeal panel. He told the panel that while NASCAR wrongly accused him of manipulation, one of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers had committed such an act in the past but went unpunished.

Hamlin directed the accusation at Chase Elliott for his actions in 2021 at Bristol. He said, “Chase Elliott, coming back onto the racetrack at Bristol, multiple laps down, asking where the #5 car is so he can ‘help him out’ is race manipulation. He [Elliott] blocked the #4 car [Harvick] to allow his teammate to win.

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It is debatable whether Elliott’s involvement in this fashion to help his teammate Kyle Larson was wrongful or not. However, it happened in the past and nothing can change that now. On the other hand, it is an interesting point from Hamlin. If Elliott got away with it then, why is he facing NASCAR’s wrath?