Hamlin vows to get even with Chastain after Gateway wreck
MADISON,ILL.— Denny Hamlin posted a clip on Twitter late Sunday that essentially mashed up his beef with Ross Chastain from earlier in the day with a scene from “Days of Thunder,” when Tom Cruise’s character tells his team to change his tires after a race had ended so that he could head back out and wreck his foil.
Pretty clear message that Hamlin was sending.
His simmering spat with Chastain turned downright boiling during Stage 2 of NASCAR’S Cup Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway, when the eighth-generation watermelon farmer couldn’t make a pass around Hamlin stick.
Chastain eventually ran too hard into the tight first turn, made contact with the No. 11 and sent him into the wall.
Hamlin spent the rest of the afternoon trying to exact some revenge. At one point, he nearly drove Chastain into the grass along the backstretch while they were running side by side. At another, Hamlin slowed to a crawl with the No. 1 car behind him, nearly preventing both of them from making the minimum speed to remain on the track.
“It’s completely unacceptable that I did that,” Chastain said of the wreck afterward, offering a mea culpa that fell on a lot of deaf ears in the garage area.
“I was just way off on my driving. Running into people is not acceptable at his level. I cannot believe, standing here right now, that I just made so many mistakes, back to back.”
Chastain also briefly touched bumpers with Joey Logano, who went on to outduel Kyle Busch in overtime for the win, and Chase Elliott, who was just about as forgiving as Hamlin when the two saw each other again.
Elliott nearly nudged Chastain into the wall before Hamlin, right behind them, took another swipe at the No. 1.
“He wasn’t shy after our contact,” Hamlin said. “It seemed like there’s no sense of consciousness there that says, ‘Maybe I’m going a bit aggressive.’ That’s his decision to make. He can make any decision he wants to. He’s his own guy.
“He’s been very successful doing what he’s doing,” Hamlin continued, “but ultimately the sport is self-policing. When you least expect it and when it means the most is when it comes around.”
That could mean this weekend at Sonoma, where the road course offers plenty of turns and ample opportunities to ruin a day. Or if Hamlin wants to send a message “when it means the most,” it could come during the playoffs — Chastain’s in with two wins this season, and Hamlin clinched his spot by winning the Cocacola 600 at Charlotte.
On-track policing has always been a part of NASCAR, from its door-banging early days racing on a beach in Daytona, Florida, through the 1980s and ’90s, when just about everyone could count on Dale Earnhardt to keep everyone in line.
“It’s good he takes responsibility,” Hamlin said of Chastain, “but ultimately it ruined our day.”