(Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
HAMPTON, Ga. — In June at Gateway, Ross Chastain unintentionally made contact with Denny Hamlin and sent him into the wall, ruining Hamlin’s day with a broken tow link.
A little over a month later, Chastain and Hamlin met again with a similar outcome.
With 13 laps to go, Chastain bumped into Hamlin exiting Turn 4, sending him spinning and causing a caution. Hamlin restarted from the rear with eight laps to go and immediately wrecked with Joey Logano on the backstretch.
Hamlin finished the race 25th, one lap down.
“It’s just frustrating. We were in a pretty good position, but ultimately got taken out,” Hamlin told the media. “We were about to be clear of the 1 (Ross Chastain) and be in third in the outside line. I was really happy with where I was at for sure. I think the 1 probably sensed that we were about to clear him so he chased us up there and got into us.”
Chastain apologized after his contact with Hamlin at Gateway, saying “it was just terrible driving.” However, he defended what happened Sunday.
(Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
“I don’t put this incident with the 11 anything like the other ones,” Chastain said in an interview with FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass. “I had a ton of damage and I overestimated how much grip I had going into [Turn] 3 with the draft.”
Hamlin, who sits 19th in overall points, has mounting frustration with Chastain. Although he’s locked into the playoffs with two victories, Hamlin has struggled to piece together consistent finishes in 2022.
“It’s all in whatever level I’m willing to take. It’s just another unfortunate circumstance for him,” Hamlin said. “Everyone has different tolerance levels and as you all know, I’ve reached my peak.”
Earlier in the race, Chastain sparked a wreck with Martin Truex Jr. that collected Austin Dillon and others in Turn 2. Chastain also made similar contact with Truex Jr. on the final lap at Dover in May, spinning him out.
Dillon told USA Network on Sunday: “Looked like we were a casualty of Ross Chastain once again… When you got guys like him out there wrecking half of the field, you might as well take a different strategy sometimes.”
The NASCAR Cup Series returns on Sunday, July 17 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
