Denny Hamlin was penalized by NASCAR on Wednesday over an admission he made on his podcast.
Hamlin finished 23rd in the United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, and Ross Chastain finished 24th. The two were running in the top seven prior to the last caution, prompting many to wonder what happened to them.
Well, Hamlin admitted on Monday’s edition of his “Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin” show that he put Chastain into the wall intentionally.
Hamlin said he was going down, so he tanked the No. 1 car too.
“I’m about to get passed by everybody behind me who’s on fresh tires and I’m about to finish in the mid-teens. And I said, ‘you’re coming with me, buddy.’ I let the wheel go and I said ‘he’s coming with me,’” Hamlin said.
Hamlin said that he took Chastain down with him because he knew he was about to finish poorly.
“At the time I says I’m going to finish sh—y anyway, and I’m going to make sure he finishes sh—y right here with me.”
Hamlin said that he and Chastain talked things out after the race.
“When he knows it’s coming, he is the hardest guy to wreck on the planet,” Hamlin said. “But I just, I wanted to get back to racing honestly with him, and I think that that’s a lot of the conversation that we had after. … He came up to me, and he says, ‘I guess I deserve it.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ …. So we talked, and I think that we are in a better place where I think we’re willing to put the past behind us, and I think that we’re going to judge each other from this point forward, and I think that’s the fairest way to do it.”
NASCAR fined Hamlin $50,000 and docked him 25 driver points for the move and admission. His beef with the No. 1 car for Trackhouse Racing goes back to last season and continued at The Clash at the Coliseum this year. Maybe now it’s finally over.