NASCAR: Denny Hamlin proves playoffs trump racing at Martinsville

Denny Hamlin caused quite a commotion when he spun out Chase Elliott in Turn 3 at the end of the NASCAR Cup Series race. And we shouldn’t be surprised.

Martinsville Speedway is known for ruffling feathers and bending fenders. But on Sunday in the First Data 500 in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, another on-track incident overshadowed what was a very competitive race.

Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott were racing for the win in the closing laps of the race, and for a spot in the final round of the playoffs in Miami. But then, Hamlin changed the game.

Denny Hamlin ran right into the back of Chase Elliott while he was leading, jacking up the rear wheels off the ground. He then proceeded to dump him into the wall in turn 3 at Martinsville, ending the race for the win for Elliott and perhaps his championship hopes. Chase would express his displeasure with Hamlin after the race, but fell short of promising retribution for the incident.

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Hamlin in this single incident lost much of his fanbase in his home state of Virginia by simply dumping a driver for the win rather than racing against them. During the post-race interviews, it could be clearly heard on television that fans were booing Hamlin when he appeared on the jumbotron, and cheering for Elliott. Understandably, despite not winning a Cup Series race yet, Chase has built quite a following and will likely replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. as NASCAR’s most popular driver next year.

This incident also showed that Hamlin is more concerned about advancing than racing when it comes to the NASCAR playoffs. There is a ton of pressure on the eight drivers to make the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However, should that cause good hard racing to be thrown out the window? The final 50 laps at Martinsville prior to Hamlin’s shunt of Elliott was the definition of hard, close-quarters racing. And fans, whether at the track or watching at home, were eating it up.

Denny Hamlin, for his own credit, did issue an apology to fans and Chase Elliott via Twitter some time after the race. However, this does not make up for the incident, nor does it take back his “I didn’t wreck him, but I wrecked him” interview after the race with NBCSN.

https://twitter.com/dennyhamlin/status/924792019309998080

At the end of the day, Hamlin will see this incident haunt him for some time. Every interview for the rest of this week will revolve around this move by the #11 Toyota, while every NASCAR talk show will also analyze the decision to the nth degree.

Next: Kyle Busch Wins in Wild Finish at Martinsville

And rest assured that television and radio partners of NASCAR will not let fans, teams, or Denny Hamlin forget the incident when they return to Martinsville in the spring. What do you think, was Denny Hamlin right or wrong to wreck Chase Elliott to try to get the win at Martinsville? Was it just hard racing, or was it prioritizing the playoffs over the on-track action?

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