NASCAR: 5 drivers who could retaliate against Ross Chastain

Drivers who could retaliate against Ross Chastain: No. 5 – Denny Hamlin

The biggest rival Ross Chastain has acquired in 2022 is Denny Hamlin. They had their first run-in at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway when Chastain punted Hamlin in turn two, sending the #11 Toyota into the wall and damaging it to the point where he could no longer compete for a good result. He ended up finishing the race 11 laps off the lead lap.

During the July race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chastain came off the bottom of the race track and into the quarter panel of Hamlin, turning the #11 Toyota again and taking him out of contention for a win with 14 laps to go.

Hamlin warned Chastain in his post-race interview at Gateway that it would come back around to him, and Hamlin made good on his word.

At Pocono Raceway in July, Hamlin ran Chastain up the track and into the wall after a late restart while battling for the lead. Chastain could not continue while Hamlin crossed the finish line first, maximizing his opportunity for revenge, though he was later disqualifed when his #11 Toyota failed post-race inspection.

Hamlin is the only driver in 2022 to retaliate against Chastain thus far, and when he was asked if more retaliation was coming, he responded by saying that “we’re just going to keep racing hard until we get the respect back from these guys.”

His very open-ended answer, as well as the fact that the score is still 2-1, could lead Hamlin to try to retaliate again in the playoffs.