The Richmond race brought some jaw-dropping results. For one thing, Richard Childress’ grandson left fans in awe as he pulled himself out of a two-year winless streak. Austin Dillon stuck to his guns till the end of the 400-lap race and grabbed a much-needed trophy. He also lived up to the No. 3 Chevy’s name -pulling off a Dale Earnhardt stunt on two stellar drivers.

So the other unlikely consequence was finding those two on the same boat. Both drivers have been NASCAR’s black hats, conflicting with rivals. Denny Hamlin had been a self-professed rival of Joey Logano for over a decade. To snap that bitterness so unexpectedly is startling, and Hamlin may not be a big fan of the amelioration.

Denny Hamlin slips regret for an unlikely alliance

Before a tumultuous streak, both Denny Hamlin and Logano were teammates under Joe Gibbs Racing (2008-2012). But soon after Logano left for Team Penske in 2013, their rivalry story began. 2013 carried a succession of conflicts that broke out between the two. They faced off at Daytona, Bristol, and Auto Club. Then 2019 held in store a passionate post-race encounter between the two. This year as well, we saw Joey Logano flip the bird at Hamlin mid-race during the Ally 400.

After Austin Dillon’s wreck-ball tactics at Richmond affected both, it was a surprising end to a long rivalry. On an episode of Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin confessed he is not particularly excited about it. “Yeah, you hate that you end up forming an alliance for the wrong reasons, ’cause we both got wrecked. But it was funny.” He added that the occasion marked the first time he has talked to Logano in ages. “Oh gosh, I don’t know. It’s been a minute. Maybe when we were teammates – when was that, 15 years ago? Long time.”

Denny Hamlin cemented his displeasure further by opposing some of Logano’s actions. After Dillon won the Cook Out 400 race, Logano went down pit road to the No. 3 box. He revved his engine and spun his tires near a group that included Dillon’s wife and young child. Hamlin was not a fan: “Certainly, NASCAR doesn’t love any kind of acts on pit road especially ’cause it’s a hot pit road and whatnot…But it’s just gotten loose over time…Certainly, he was seeing red at the moment, the guys on the 3 team, they burned out in front of him.”

Joey Logano had also hurled some hurtful expletives about Austin Dillon’s career. Denny Hamlin loudly proclaimed that he did not support that either. “I don’t know who would do that post-race just that Austin is a hack, not any good…Don’t know why anyone would do that. I thought that it’s amazing what we will say when we’re really angry.” Clearly, despite the unlikely union, Hamlin is not so keen on maintaining the alliance. And Dillon’s explanation post-race may have caused a bigger rift.

Austin Dillon was selectively aggressive

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Denny Hamlin has been the villain of NASCAR since his Pocono conflict with Kyle Larson. However, several other drivers have black hat tendencies lurking in the shadows – Joey Logano is one of them. Last year in Martinsville, he controversially spun out Ty Gibbs and caused a huge wreck, drawing Hamlin’s criticism. Now after Austin Dillon bumped his way to a win, he professed that his aggression was more directed toward Logano. This may have divided Hamlin and Logano’s unlikely alliance further.

In a conversation with Kevin Harvick on ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour’, Dillon explained he went all out to get Logano out of the way. “It was like, whatever it takes to get [Logano] up the track, loose, whatever it was. I went into turn three, I was up a gear, and when I rolled to him, I think I caught him right in the edge of the right rear. He went up the track, I downshifted to fourth.”

He added that nudging Hamlin was more of a reflex move. “Denny’s coming up the track. I didn’t see — when I’m looking at the start-finish line, I’m going at the closest angle — when he comes up. That was just a reaction getting to the line. But the Joey deal, [I was] definitely trying to get him loose.”

With the 34-year-old creating a further rift between the two, it is unlikely that Hamlin and Logano’s truce would last long. However, both had issues with Dillon’s aggression, so the latter should expect double trouble in the following races.