NASCAR: Denny Hamlin’s most recent comments about Chase Elliott scream ignorance yet again

By Asher Fair | Dec 5, 2017

HOMESTEAD, FL - NOVEMBER 18: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, stands in the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Denny Hamlin’s recent comments about how he and Chase Elliott will race each other in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season proved his ignorance yet again.

Denny Hamlin became arguably NASCAR‘s most hated driver in the matter of a few minutes when he spun out fan favorite driver and race leader Chase Elliott late in the opening race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville this past season. That led to the two drivers exchanging heated words in the pits after the race had concluded.

Nothing along the lines of revenge took place in the following race at Texas, but Elliott bumped Hamlin into the wall late in the following race at Phoenix, a race Hamlin had dominated, which ultimately led a tire of Hamlin’s to go down, sending him into the wall and ending his chances at qualifying for the Championship 4.

Here is what Hamlin had to say, according to NASCAR.com, when asked whether or not the debacle he has had with Elliott as of late is officially in the past.

"“The way we race each other has been set and will be set for a while.”"

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As if he really needed to add any more fuel to the now raging fire that screams ignorance on Hamlin’s behalf, he poured it right on.

Hamlin, whose net worth is over $30 million, recently complained that NASCAR drivers don’t get paid enough and that the risks they take are far greater than those that NFL and NBA players take while ignoring the fact that there are plenty of others out there such as police officers and firemen that take far greater risks to save people’s lives as opposed to simply entertaining them — and they get paid pennies compared to what many NASCAR drivers get paid.

Here were his comments on that topic, according to ESPN.

"“We’re way underpaid as race car drivers. There’s no doubt, doing what we do, the schedule that we have and the danger that we incur every single week, NASCAR drivers should be making NBA, NFL money.”"

Then after Elliott retaliated at Phoenix for Hamlin spinning him out, Hamlin seemed to forget the fact that it was he who started the whole thing by wrecking Elliott at Martinsville. The whole concept of retaliation seemed to escape him as he tried to prove he wasn’t the bad guy by using the fact that Elliott had essentially given him a taste of his own medicine.

Here were his comments on that subject, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"“Each person had their own opinion of how they do things, and it just proved to the people that thought I was a bad guy that he would do the exact same thing in the same circumstances, so, I mean, you know, it’s just part of racing. I got into him and he chose to retaliate, so I’m in the garage and that’s the way it is.”"

And now Hamlin has the nerve to say that the way he and Elliott race each other “has been set and will be set for a while” after he was the one who started the whole thing by resorting to wrecking over racing. In other words, had Elliott not retaliated, and retaliated justifiably I might add, this would not be an issue moving forward.

Not from the limited perspective of Denny Hamlin at least.

Next: NASCAR Playoffs: Pros and Cons

Will we see Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott tangle at all again in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season like we did toward the end of the 2017 season? The season starts on Sunday, February 18th with the 60th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida.