NASCAR: Darrell Wallace Jr. discusses Denny Hamlin incident
By Asher Fair
Darrell Wallace Jr. discussed his incident with fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin that took place at the end of the Daytona 500.
After Austin Dillon made contact with Aric Almirola, who led the Daytona 500, the opening race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, as the field approached turn 3 on the final lap of the race and spun him out, he gained a sizable lead over the rest of the field and was well on his way to winning the race, which he did.
However, while Denny Hamlin appeared to be well on his way to a 2nd place finish after going a lap down early in the race as a result of a pit road penalty, Darrell Wallace Jr. had a run on him and pulled to the right side of his car in an attempt to side draft him.
The two drivers made contact, and Hamlin then proceeded to shove Wallace Jr. up the track and into the wall. Wallace Jr., however, finished ahead of Hamlin in 2nd place, while Hamlin had to settle for 3rd literally just inches behind Wallace Jr.
Hamlin believes that Wallace Jr. blew his right front tire as a result of this move. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to Sporting News.
"“I blew my right front tire out when he came down and side drafted me, so I didn’t have any control of my car because when he came down there, I was just on the yellow line. Nothing I could have done, and it blew my right front tire out with his fender.”"
Wallace Jr., however, does not think he was the reason that Hamlin blew a tire. In fact, he said on the radio that his team “better hold me the f*** back” after Hamlin drove him into the wall.
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As a result of this incident, Wallace Jr. made remarks about Hamlin that poked fun at his previous remarks regarding his thoughts that close to three-quarters of the Cup Series field use Adderall.
Hamlin, who had stated that these remarks were a joke after they got “blown up”, took offense to Wallace Jr.’s remarks, and this led to an angry confrontation between these two drivers.
Hamlin proceeded to go on a Twitter rant about the matter, which you can see below.
Let me clue the idiots on Twitter what I was pissed off about. I had no issue with how the race ended. I was minding my own business on the bottom of the track and out of the blue I get ran into, my tire blown, and perfectly straight car destroyed. I’m good with all that.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 20, 2018
Then, I go do media and everything is fine. Then the last question is what was my response to what Bubba said. I had no issue until not only did he place blame on me but then went on to make personal comments about myself. I left the media center and saw Bubba 30 secs later.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 20, 2018
Anyone who wouldn’t take offense to the stupid things that was said has absolutely no backbone. I have one
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 20, 2018
Here is what Wallace Jr. had to say about the matter, according to Sporting News.
"“If that happened, okay, so be it. But it just seems like he got off of me a little bit and then turned back into me. I know the cars drive crazy and whatnot and they’re a handful but it just didn’t seem like that right away, but it was tough to see from that angle anyways. Who knows. We’re both pissed off at each other, but we’re racers. We’re competitive and we’ll go into Atlanta and be fine.”"
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Will everything be fine between Darrell Wallace Jr. and Denny Hamlin as the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season progresses like Wallace Jr. says it will? Tune in to the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on FOX this Sunday, February 25th at 2:00 pm ET to see if anything transpires between these two drivers.