Back in 2017, Denny Hamlin angered Chase Elliott after spinning him out in Martinsville. The famous scene of Chase storming out of his vehicle to confront Denny still lives fresh in fans’ memories.
However, recently Hamlin got on a podcast with fellow driver Corey LaJoie and spoke about what led to the incident.
He also mentioned that he did not intentionally want to punt him out of the race. NASCAR fans reacted with a mixed reaction to Denny’s comments on the podcast.
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During the podcast, Denny said that he wanted to push for the win and in order to do that, he planned to ride to his bumper of Elliott.
Though his initial plan was to use Elliott as a draft and then shove him up, Chase seemed to have lifted early, causing Hamlin to bump into him a little harder than intended.
That impact made Elliott spin out and hit the outside wall, ending his race at Martinsville Speedway.
Denny said, “Listen, I got my payback he wrecked me at the following week at Phoenix.” Then added, “It all squared up there, we got in a better place me and him.”
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Fans reacted to Hamlin’s comments on the podcast via a YouTube clip posted by NASCAR’s official channel.
Fans react to comments by Denny Hamlin on the 2017 Martinsville incident with Chase Elliott
The reactions were mostly mixed, but most did exhibit a positive outlook towards Hamlin.
Meanwhile, there were also others, who did not agree with what Hamlin had to say.
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The comments section read; “Always liked Denny always will, getting more classy every day.”
Another stated, “As a Chase fan, I forgive him. For some odd reason (and this has been said already) I’m starting to like Hamlin and Busch more this year. The only thing I don’t like about them is that they don’t make great calls on what is “fair racing” and what isn’t.
“Dennys always thinks everyone should just pull over and let him win. Then throws a baby fit when they don’t…” said another.
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After all these years, things seem to have cooled down between the two. Whatever Denny must have told Elliott during the confrontation seemed to have worked out. Moreover, this season, both Elliott and Hamlin seemed to be really relaxed.