NASCAR: Chip Ganassi not amused by Denny Hamlin’s joke

Chip Ganassi was not happy with Denny Hamlin for joking with Kyle Larson about the contact that sent Larson into the wall in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson were both able to laugh off the incident that transpired between the two drivers and ultimately knocked Larson out of contention in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.

On lap 34 of this 200-lap Auto Club 400 around the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) oval in Fontana, California, the drivers of the #42 Chevrolet and #11 Toyota were running in 13th and 14th place, respectively.

They were running in a four-car pack that also included Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones in 12th place and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick in 15th.

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Harvick’s #4 Ford gave Hamlin’s #11 Toyota a slight push. While Harvick was quickly no longer on Hamlin’s rear bumper, Hamlin ended up making contact with the rear bumper of Larson’s #42 Chevrolet, which unintentionally sent him hard into the turn one wall.

This damaged Larson’s car enough to warrant an unscheduled pit stop, and it knocked him off the lead lap. He was unable to recover and ended up finishing in a season-worst 21st place, one lap off the lead lap. Hamlin, meanwhile, finished in sixth.

Here is a video of the incident.

As stated above, they were both able to laugh it off, as evidenced by a video that Hamlin posted after the race, showing himself and Larson grocery shopping. Hamlin decided to “reenact” the accident by “unintentionally” running into the back of Larson with his shopping cart. That quickly drew Larson’s attention and led to laughter.

But while Hamlin and Larson were over it, team owner Chip Ganassi was not. He was clearly not a fan of Hamlin’s humor in this video that has now been viewed over 420,000 times, stating that it was in “bad taste”.

To illustrate his lack of amusement, the owner of Larson’s #42 Chevrolet alluded to the fact that it was one of his cars that was damaged as well as the fact that it created a whole lot of extra work for his employees.

Hamlin responded with nothing more than a Clint Eastwood GIF.

NASCAR Cup Series action is scheduled to resume this Sunday, March 8 at Phoenix Raceway with the FanShield 500, the first of two races at the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona this season. This race is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.