"He's not even worth my time" - When Chase Elliott voiced his displeasure with Denny Hamlin's racing tactics
Seven years ago, Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott confronted Denny Hamlin on the track after his No. 24 Chevy spun into the wall at Martinsville Speedway.
The First Data 500 playoff race in 2017 ended in chaos after both drivers battled for a spot in the Championship 4. Elliott looked like he was finally going to win his first Cup race, but Hamlin bumped him out of the way and caused him to finish in 27th place.
Chase Elliott expressed his frustration with Hamlin's driving style in a post-race interview, saying:
"The funny thing was, he said somebody was pushing him, and it wasn't Kyle Larson, the next guy. My mom always said, 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.' So he's not even worth my time. We're going on to Texas."
"We're racing hard for the lead, and there was no one pushing him into turn three. So, I wanted to see the replay. That's what I thought happened, and that's what happened. It's definitely 100% unnecessary and uncalled for... I felt like I was doing what I needed to do. You know, I can't control his decisions and whatever the hell that was," he added.
Kyle Busch won that race in Martinsville while many cars behind him crashed.
Elliott later took revenge and hit Hamlin into the wall at Phoenix. However, neither driver got a shot at the Cup championship that year. Elliot finished 5th overall in the 2017 Cup Series standings while Hamlin finished 6th.
"Everybody was doing the exact same thing" - Denny Hamlin responded to wreaking Chase Elliott
Joe Gibb Racing's Denny Hamlin responded to the 2017 Martinsville wreck in another post-race interview.
The No. 11 Toyota driver said he did not mean to wreck Elliottt and accidentally bumped into him while trying to win the race. He added that everyone was racing hard, which caused several crashes at the end.
"You know, everybody wrecked everyone there at the end. It was complete chaos. I got in the back of him, and he spun out and somehow got into the back of me and I wrecked you. It was just a mess there. I mean, everybody was doing the exact same thing. I hated it for his team; I understand they had a win for a long time coming, but this is a ticket to Homestead," Hamlin said (03:02).
Hamlin won two races at Loudon and Darlington with 15 top-5 finishes in the 2017 season. The crash at Phoenix hurt his chances and kept him from reaching the Championship 4. He also had two pole positions that year.