NASCAR: Denny Hamlin goes from zero to hero at Martinsville

Two years ago, Denny Hamlin was the most hated NASCAR Cup Series driver at Martinsville Speedway. Today, he is the most beloved.

Two years ago today, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was the most hated NASCAR Cup Series driver at Martinsville Speedway, the state of Virginia, ironically his home state, and the rest of the United States.

With just over two laps remaining in the round of 8 playoff race at the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Martinsville Speedway oval in Ridgeway, Virginia, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott had the lead over Hamlin.

Both drivers were in the round of 8, and Elliott was seeking the first victory of his Cup Series career, which would have locked him into the Championship 4 in just his second season as a full-time driver.

Hamlin had other plans, putting the bumper of his #11 Toyota to the back of Elliott’s #24 Chevrolet, sending him spinning in turn three.

The race went into overtime, and Hamlin was involved in several more incidents that resulted in him finishing back in seventh place, failing to secure a Championship 4 berth.

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Elliott, meanwhile, finished in 27th, putting him in a huge points hole heading into the remaining two races of the round of 8 at Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway, a hole that he could not dig out of and could not win his way out of to lock himself into the Championship 4.

Hamlin and Elliott confronted one another after the race, and it was the fan-favorite Elliott who got the crowd riled up against Hamlin, who needed to be protected against an angry fan who made his way onto pit road in an attempt to fight the sport’s newest “villain”.

Two years later, Hamlin was getting the crowd fired up just like Elliott did against him.

Hamlin and Team Penske’s Joey Logano, a known villain of the “Paperclip” over the last few seasons, made contact with one another late in the race, sending Logano into the wall off of turn four. One of his tires went down and he ended up spinning out.

Logano ended up recovering to finish in a decent eighth place while Hamlin finished in fourth.

The two drivers went on to have what Hamlin described as a “civil” discussion before Logano shoved Hamlin, only to back away quickly afterward.

That resulted in a major scuffle between crew members of both drivers.

When Hamlin was interviewed following the scuffle, the crowd roared just like they roared against Hamlin and in favor of Elliott two years ago.

Listen to them get louder and louder before Hamlin’s interview culminates with him mocking Logano with a Logano-esque “Ah, short-track racin’!”

As much as NASCAR fans and drivers “never forget” about certain incidents, other incidents involving one of the same two original drivers and a new driver can quickly change that, as the run-in involving Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano illustrated just two years after Hamlin was the most hated man in NASCAR for dumping Chase Elliott.