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NASCAR: Denny Hamlin wrecking Chase Elliott at Martinsville proves costly to both drivers

By Asher Fair

MARTINSVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 29: Chase Elliott, driver of the #24 NAPA Chevrolet, wrecks during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 29, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 29: Chase Elliott, driver of the #24 NAPA Chevrolet, wrecks during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 29, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /
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Denny Hamlin wrecking Chase Elliott at Martinsville proved to be costly for both drivers in the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship hunt.

Denny Hamlin wrecking race leader Chase Elliott at Martinsville Speedway with just over two laps to go in the race to open up the Round of 8 ended up hurting both drivers’ chances of winning the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship in the long run.

In fact, without that incident, both Hamlin and Elliott could have been in a position right now to battle for the 2017 Cup Series championship this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.

Instead, neither one of those two drivers is in the Championship 4, and they will be battling for 5th place as opposed to 1st. Had Hamlin not wrecked Elliott, however, Elliott would be in the Championship 4 thanks to winning at Martinsville. Instead, he finished in 27th place in the race, and Hamlin didn’t even win it despite wrecking Elliott to take the lead, as he finished in 7th.

Had Hamlin never wrecked Elliott at Martinsville, Elliott would have had no reason to get revenge at Phoenix International Raceway in Sunday’s Can-Am 500, which he ended up doing. Elliott has said and proven that he races drivers in the same manner that they race him, so he didn’t hit put Hamlin into the wall on Sunday just for the fun of it.

Here are Elliott’s comments on the subject.

"“A wise man once told me that he’ll race guys the way they raced him with a smile on his face. That’s what I did today. I raced him the way he raced me. That’s the way I saw it. That’s about all I have to say.’’"

Hamlin had dominated the race before Elliott shoved him into the wall, which then caused Hamlin to lose a few positions before one of his tires went down and he crashed, ending his hopes at a race win and a spot in the Championship 4 to fight for his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship.

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Had Hamlin never wrecked Elliott, both drivers would likely have won races in the Round of 8 along with Kevin Harvick, who won at Texas Motor Speedway in the only Round of 8 race that did not feature an incident between Hamlin and Elliott. Thus, they would both be battling for the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway along with Martin Truex Jr., who still would have qualified for the Championship 4 on points.

Kyle Busch, however, would not have won at Martinsville and would not have score more points than Truex Jr. did, thus keeping him out of the Championship 4, and Brad Keselowski would not have scored more points than Truex Jr. did, either, thus keeping him out of the Championship 4 as well.

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Will we see Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin in the Championship 4 next season since they were both extremely close to getting into it this season? That is still a long way away, but both drivers definitely have what it takes to get back to this position in future NASCAR Cup Series seasons, including 2018.

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