The infamous accident from the Auto Club 400 in 2013 is still fresh in the minds of NASCAR fans. The incident saw Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin go head-to-head in the final lap to seal the victory. The tussle between the two resulted in a collision, with Hamlin slamming into the inside wall. The crash caused a compression fracture in the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s lower back.
Having a history of back issues, the incident did not help Hamlin’s cause one bit. The battle between him and Logano had already started earlier at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Hamlin was guilty of bumping the Team Penske driver, resulting in his car spinning toward the outside wall. It only got more heated after the race with words exchanged and some shoving involved. This was one of the primary reasons which resulted in their tussle at Fontana. Recently, Logano discussed the incident openly.
Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano at Auto Club Speedway in 2013. pic.twitter.com/k4xH5ZKGA5
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 27, 2020
Joey Logano could have spared Hamlin the suffering
Clearly, Logano was quite upset with what happened in Bristol. Speaking on Graham Bensinger’s show recently, the 32-year-old said, “He [Denny] hooked me in Bristol the week before, showed no remorse, and ran his mouth.”
Surely, this infuriated Logano a lot and it was quite evident in the battle at Fontana. That being said, he was quick to stress how it could have turned out differently. He said, “Had he [Denny] came up to me and said after Bristol, ‘Hey man, I screwed up, I didn’t mean to get into you know whatever,’ I would react differently, right.”
Without a doubt, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was seeking nothing from Hamlin but to clear the air. In his words, this was the only thing that could have stopped or probably avoided the Auto Club Speedway incident. One thing is for sure, Logano does not regret what happened.
Logano has no remorse about the 2013 incident
The 2015 Daytona winner also went on to add on the show how Hamlin‘s actions in Bristol angered him and instigated the Fontana event. He said, “You [Denny] open the door, and when you have it that we are racing for the win the next week right? So now you got someone that wrecked you and showed no respect to you or no remorse about the situation and actually talked more crap about it after he wrecked you.”
Logano was clear with his approach in 2013 and has no regrets for his actions. He said, “And now you are racing for a win you are going for the final corner the next week what are you gonna do?
“Well, I know one thing he’s not winning right, like if I’m not winning he’s not winning that’s for sure. I don’t think I’d change that, I don’t change that part of that.”
WATCH THIS STORY: “Believe It or Not, You Don’t See It Much on TV” – Denny Hamlin Makes a Revelation About JGR Teammate Kyle Busch’s Bitter Enemy Joey Logano
His father, Tom Logano, who was also present on the show, spoke in support of him. He said,
“Roger [Penske] called me that night and he said I got Joey’s back, don’t worry about it. He did what he had to do and we are proud of him. That was the beginning of everybody realizing we are not pushing Joey Logano around anymore. He’s going to start pushing back. It’s like in old Italian you know, you are that’s my boy, you are gonna fight back, that’s what we do.”This rivalry between Logano and Hamlin is an entertaining one for the spectators. While a lot has happened since 2013, can we expect more of it this season? We shall soon find out.