NASCAR is a contact sport and drivers bump into each other all the time for a pass. But there’s a thin line that need not be crossed in the healthy spirit of the sport. And when it does get crossed, or so it appears, fans jump into the whole conversation of trashing the driver who erred. A similar thing happened with Denny Hamlin in August 2017 post the Martinsville push that wrecked Chase Elliott. The rivalry talks were rekindled when a video of the incident resurfaced on NASCAR’s social account.

Now, there are a multitude of opinions on what happened and their respective justifications. The fact remains that Hamlin got into the bad pages of many fans since. But that’s the sport these drivers are in and they will keep doing it to win races, albeit more cautiously.

What does Denny Hamlin think about the crash with Elliott?

Being a veteran driver, and now a team co-owner, Hamlin has his head in the right place. While drivers may not always be conscientious on the track given the pressure of the results and the split-second decisions they need to make, reflecting upon those acts does give clarity. And Hamlin feels he could have handled the situation better back in 2017.

Responding to Jeff Gluck on his question about a retractable incident from his career, Denny Hamlin said on the Dirty Mo Media interview, “The way fans feel about me changed probably in 2017, that was probably at Martinsville with Chase. That was probably one of the big defining moments, for sure. Wish I could do that all over again. Certainly, feel like I would have made a lot different choices in the moment.”

There is nothing better than a sincere regret of letting something happen. And Denny Hamlin has been seen doing that ever since the Richmond controversy. When drivers are young and brimming with an adrenaline rush, they don’t think through things as much. Responsibility often comes with age, and if reparations are made, that is as good as it gets.

Despite regretting how the crash with Elliott went down, and the long-drawn rivalry that ensued, Hamlin still believes that the sport benefits from these rivalries. “You want to see someone your favorite driver beat? That person. So, I think, yeah, it is good for overall sport,” added Hamlin.

Jeff Gluck’s narrative digresses from the fans

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If there is a crash, there will be consequences. Sometimes more severe than others, some sooner than later. But they will be there. And that’s how Gluck sees the 2017 Martinsville push from Hamlin. “It doesn’t matter all that much whether Elliott got moved up the track, got spun or got outright crashed in that situation, because the result was essentially the same — a shot at Homestead was denied. By the way, Elliott has gotten a completely free pass for doing the same thing to Brad Keselowski at Martinsville”, posted the reporter on his website back when the crash happened.

He also compared the incident with when the situation was vice versa in Phoenix the same year. Because Hamlin didn’t immediately get wrecked, Elliott was again excused by the fans. So, there’s a little superficiality and bias, as per Gluck, in the fan’s POV. And Hamlin agreed as he remarked, “I think that when someone becomes a fan of something, then they’re gonna see things through a different lens and not a subjective lens forever from that point, whether it be Hendrick fans or a Chase Elliott fan.”

Be it as it may, Brett Griffin concurs with Hamlin about the brighter aspect of the fan’s sentimentality, as he concludes, “You need black hats in NASCAR. It’s good.”