Before the Brickyard 400 qualifier, Chase Elliott, who eventually secured third place, and Denny Hamlin, who finished second, were seen talking on the pit road. Their conversation grabbed fans’ attention because the duo’s rocky dynamics are no secret. Plus Hamlin and Kyle Larson, Elliott’s teammate don’t seem to be on the best of terms, and a possible “rivalry” is brewing between them. 

The conversation looked interesting from the outside and turns out the incident was even more interesting. Denny Hamlin explained what they talked about in detail.

Classy Chase Elliott’s gesture impresses Denny Hamlin

In NASCAR, rivalries often lead to butting heads and heated arguments. However, the dynamics between drivers constantly change over time, either due to different circumstances or personal growth. Moreover, most drivers develop a sense of respect for each other. Yet, Kyle Busch might disagree, as he has bluntly stated that none of his fellow drivers think before wrecking him. Nevertheless, not everything is as harsh as it seems. The exchange between Hamlin and Elliott is a perfect example of this.

Denny Hamlin after the incident shed light on it during the trackside interview. He said that the conversation started because his team had lost a slip of paper with a piece of information during the qualifier. And Chase Elliott had actually found it and returned it to him. In fact, if you look at the video closely, Elliott looked like he was actively trying not to look at the paper. The JGR driver was so glad that he appreciated Chase Elliott for his gesture. He said, “Man! He’s a stand-up guy. I guess one of the 23XI guys dropped a piece of paper out of their back pocket that had some important information on it, and he handed it to me to give it to those guys.”

And not just him, but fans too were elated by this gesture by the HMS driver—it just goes on to show why he is NASCAR’s most popular driver. One fan said, “I knew there was a reason why I liked Chase Elliott. He’s a real stand up an honest kind of guy.” And not just one comment. Many fans came up and praised Elliott for his sportsmanship. Meanwhile, Hamlin also has been backing the HMS driver as a serious contender for the win this year.

Denny Hamlin tags Elliott as a serious contender for the championship win

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Denny Hamlin wants to win the championship probably more than anyone right now. He is a veteran, with numerous wins in his name but is without a championship title. Although he says it doesn’t matter to him—it must pinch his heart a little. However, he did take another name that he feels will go ahead to battle it out for the championship—Chase Elliott. 

He even gave the example of Elliott’s exemplary race at Texas Motor Speedway, suggesting that the win was granted because of a decisive move by Elliott. He had overtaken Hamlin and Reddick in a three-wide maneuver at the bottom on the restart, grabbing and maintaining the lead. Hamlin admitted Chase Elliott outsmarted both him and his driver. 

He said, “Now he’s like, ‘Okay, this is how aggressive I have to be, this is what I need out of my car for it to be fast.’ You start to understand those things and next thing you know, these wins just start reeling off. So absolutely, I would consider them a championship threat.” Now with the second and third-finish qualifier results, both are looking for a win at the iconic Brickyard 400 track. However, Tyler Reddick will still be leading the pack. And as we know, as Jeff Gordon said, starting at a strong position is what’s most important when racing at Indianapolis.