Elliott denied deliberately crashing into Hamlin with a dangerous left hook into Hamlin’s car during the rain-rescheduled race Monday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Hamlin countered with simulated data he posted on social media after the crash, saying that the data removed “all doubt” that the crash was deliberate. He then double-downed on calls for Elliott to be suspended on his Tuesday podcast.
Hamlin owns the car driven by Bubba Wallace, who was suspended one race last year for deliberately hooking Kyle Larson in a race in Las Vegas. The move is considered one of the most dangerous in NASCAR.
NASCAR suspended Elliott under a section of rulebook covered under “Member Code of Conduct.” Among the rules covered in that section is “removing another competitor from championship contention in a dangerous manner when not racing for position based on the available evidence and specific circumstances of the incident.”
“It was an intentional act by Chase in our opinion in our view after reviewing all of the available resources,” said NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer on Sirius NASCAR Radio.
Hamlin said he was so furious after the wreck he wanted to fight Elliott, claiming his counterpart had a “tantrum” on the track and “shouldn’t be racing next week. Right rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable.”
Elliott, the 2020 Cup champion and son of Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, denied wrecking Hamlin intentionally.
“Once you hit the wall in these things, you can’t drive them anymore,” Elliott said after emerging from the infield care center Monday. “So unfortunately not, no, just an unfortunate circumstance.”
Hamlin on his podcast, “Actions Detrimental,” on Tuesday said the act by Elliott was absolutely deliberate payback for earlier contact between the two.
“There’s no explanation that he could possibly give, which he didn’t have a reason for hanging left. You know he obviously didn’t want to admit it,” Hamlin said.
“I pointed out in the data that I tweeted that once he got into the wall, there was nothing wrong with his car. He’s turned the wheel back straight, like he was going down the straightaway, and you can tell by data whether you’ve got toe link damage or not,” Hamlin continued. “Everyone hits the wall. But he threw a hissy fit and he just hung the left on us in the most dangerous part of the racetrack that you possibly could and it ended my day and his, and in my opinion, he shouldn’t be racing next weekend. Because NASCAR set a precedent last year on this.”
