NASCAR: Chase Elliott has a perfect response to Denny Hamlin barb

Denny Hamlin blamed Chase Elliott’s fanbase for the booing he got after his run-ins with Alex Bowman in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.

Denny Hamlin was booed relentlessly during his televised interview after Sunday’s round of 8 NASCAR Cup Series playoff finale at Martinsville Speedway — his home track in Ridgeway, Virginia, no less.

After being unintentionally spun by Alex Bowman for the lead, the Chesterfield native was forced to settle for 24th place, though he did advance to the Championship 4 for the series-high third straight year anyway. Bowman went on to survive the ensuing overtime restart and win the race to secure his fourth victory of the year.

Frustrated with what had happened, Hamlin drove toward Bowman’s car during Bowman’s victory celebration on the front straightaway and made contact, pushing the #48 Chevrolet backward.

This interaction also hilariously involved a fan drilling the #11 Toyota with a can of beer (WATCH).

While he didn’t let up at first, the driver of the #11 Toyota eventually drove into the pits.

A visibly emotional Hamlin stated the following in his post-race interview amid a sea of boos.

"“He’s just a hack, he’s just an absolute hack. He gets his ass kicked by his teammates every week. He’s just terrible. He’s just f–king terrible. I moved up as high as I could on the race track and he still can’t drive.”"

He went on to blame the Chase Elliott fans for the boos, even though Elliott literally played no role in this run-in.

But as we all remember, Hamlin and Elliott, NASCAR’s most popular driver, were involved in their own tussle at the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) oval in October 2017, when Hamlin intentionally spun out Elliott for the lead late in the race.

Hamlin was unable to capitalize and did not win, and neither driver went on to qualify for the Championship 4.

Here is what Hamlin had to say about the boos.

"“It’s just Chase Elliott fans, man. They’re just, you know, they’re not…they don’t think straightly. They’re gonna boo the shit out of me next week. I’ll tell you that.”"

Elliott responded in typical Elliott fashion.

"“I’m gonna lose so much sleep tonight. I might not sleep at all. That’s how concerned I am. My fans don’t care either, by the way.”"

Hamlin and Elliott are two of four championship contenders set to square off this coming Sunday at Phoenix Raceway with the 2021 championship on the line. Martin Truex Jr., a teammate of Hamlin, and Kyle Larson, a teammate of Elliott, are set to join them, and NBC is set to broadcast the action live beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to start your free trial of FuboTV today!