NASCAR is a rowdy sport. Drivers maneuver heavy stock cars with V8 combustion engines at 200 mph around oval circuits. Sometimes the tracks are narrow, leading to beating and banging and a lot of paint-trading. As a result, the racers get into on-track conflicts and heated exchanges. Some of the latter may be trash talk that is hurtful to the opponent driver’s career. Yet some backfire as well.

These backfiring smack talk moments are surprisingly not few in NASCAR. Unsurprisingly, Denny Hamlin sits on top of that pile for an obvious reason. He has been in the sport for 19 years, and yet a championship eludes the veteran. He is not the only one though – as four others shot themselves in the foot after issuing heated statements.

1. Denny Hamlin’s unfortunate encounters with rivals

Ranging from Denny Hamlin’s feud in the late 2000s to Martin Truex Jr’s brush-up with Joey Logano in 2018, NASCAR has witnessed a lot of these moments. Starting off with the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran – Hamlin’s racing talents have been fierce ever since he debuted in 2006. Then again, so has been his confidence. In 2010, he probably had his best season, accumulating 8 victories en route to the championship. During the Michigan playoff race, he ran out of gas early and overcame a piece of debris to win his 8th win. On Victory Lane, he declared, “All we do is win, baby.” Yet ironically, Denny Hamlin‘s championship hopes fizzled out immediately after in Homestead-Miami.

The JGR driver also had a solid feud with Brad Keselowski in 2009. The two had a physical altercation in Charlotte, where Keselowski was fined $50,000. The then Team Penske driver also locked horns with Jeff Gordon, Hamlin had heavily scrutinized Keselowski’s lack of remorse, saying that ‘nobody likes’ him. Yet Keselowski went on to win the 2012 championship.

2. Waltrip turns the tables on Clint Bowyer

Similarly, Clint Bowyer had called Michael Waltrip “the worst driver in NASCAR, period.” During the night Cup Series race at the Bristol Motor Speedway back in 2008, Michael Waltrip, while driving for his own team, caused an accident that left Bowyer’s car damaged. It was what caused Bowyer’s outburst on the radio. Yet Bowyer went on to become a team owner and coincidentally field Bowyer himself under Michael Waltrip Racing.

During the press conference that announced Bowyer’s arrival in the team, Waltrip sent a cheeky remark to Bowyer, asking, “Now, Clint, when you said I was the worst driver, did you mean of all-time or just this era?” The remark reminded fans what happens on the track can come out of emotions and drivers resolve things amongst themselves, sometimes with humor in the way Waltrip did.

3. Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.’s face off in 2018

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Joey Logano got on now-retired Martin Truex Jr.’s nerves in 2018. During the playoff race in Martinsville, Logano took second with 9 laps left. Then he did a bump-and-run in Turn 3, continuing to hit Truex in going door-to-door. After Logano won the race, Truex said, “He won the battle, but he’s not going to win the damn war.” However, Logano did end up winning the war, as he clinched his first Cup Series title in 2018.

4. Chastain makes Harvick eat his words

A similar brush-up happened between Kevin Harvick and Ross Chastain at a Darlington Xfinity race the same year. The two door-banged each other and at the end, Harvick spun out. The veteran lashed out at Chastain: “You’ve got a really inexperienced guy in a really fast car.” Ironically, Chastain roped in Busch Light, the sponsor that backed Harvick. It wasn’t just the sponsor that was on board. Chastain went as far as using the same colors as Harvick’s car. However, that wasn’t about payback for Harvick’s comments. It was a small tribute to the amount of work Ross Chastain had put in to bring in big names as sponsors, especially a brand like Busch Light which supported Harvick for seven years.

5. Friendship over rivalry for Stewart and Harvick

In 2007, Tony Stewart had established himself as a veteran NASCAR racer. Already holding two championships (2002, 2005) and a successful Double attempt in his resume, Stewart had a stellar reputation. Yet that took a little hit during the Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Stewart dominated the race and was running away with the race until a late caution set up one final restart. Kevin Harvick jumped past Stewart at the green flag. Then Stewart spent the next 10 laps chasing him down. He hilariously even called once over his radio, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Come get you some of this.”

These taunts finally led to Stewart getting desperate, as Harvick did not allow him any room. When he finally pulled even, the two drag-raced until Stewart bumped Harvick and pulled away. This ticked off Harvick who was rooting for at least a runner-up finish. Yet this fiasco did not get in the way of their solid friendship, as Harvick admitted. “I don’t think you let anything on the track affect your relationship off the race track. For me, it’s better to just take some time and think about things and just realize where we are and go from there. I’ll get over it. At some point. And we’ll still be friends.”

This marked a trash-talking incident which did not mar relations so far. Yet as we saw earlier, the instances to the contrary were hardly a few in NASCAR.