The Fan Favorite Strikes Back

Chase Elliott has not been known for retaliation on track or off of it, but Monday rang a different tune for the fan favorite. Denny Hamlin brings the receipts 

CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 29: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Cherry Lime Ford, Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Patriotic Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, and Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 AdventHealth Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2023 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

For years, Chase Elliott has been seen as NASCAR's fan favorite. Voted Most Popular Driver 5x in a row by the fans, Chase is seen as a mild tempered, cool headed and very solid driver. In 2020, the MPD scored his only championship to date in Phoenix and he did it without the beating and banging and "dirty tactics" of some drivers in the past. 

But Chase's timid nature has been seen by some as his achilles heel. With so many drivers using up Chase into corners or throwing late blocks. The biggest that comes to everyone's mind was the Fall Martinsville race from 2017. Elliott was leading late until Hamlin shoved Elliott into the corner of 3 causing him to slam drivers door first into the wall. 

But Chase proved to everyone 2 races later at Phoenix that he wasn't going to just be pushed around. He ran Hamlin up into the outside wall late in the race causing the 11 to lose a tire and hit the wall again to take him out of the race and out of a Round of 4 appearance. 

2023 Coke 600

Lap 185, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin exchanged a few door bangs for about half a lap or so before Hamlin (intentionally or not) drove the 9 up into the wall coming out of Turn 4. Elliott then appeared to come directly down the track into the right side of the 11 causing him to turn violently into the outside wall with a massive hit. The incident caused the 9 severe damage as well and resulted in a P34 finish for Elliott and P35 for Hamlin. 

At first glance, it's about 50/50 on the contact being intentional. From the looks of things, it could have been innocent with the 9 being broken and coming down the track. The 6 of Brad Keselowski made contact with the left rear of the 9 as it came down the track and that could have been what turned the 9 into the 11. Or of course, the 9 could have just been flat out fed up. 

Denny Hamlin after leaving the infield care center made his opinion pretty obvious. The 9 turned down on him just like Wallace did to Larson at Vegas last year and stated that they should suspend Elliott for the Gateway weekend.

Chase Elliott said after leaving the ICC that it was just an unfortunate circumstance, blaming the damage to the right side of the 9.

Brad Keselowski post race said that it happened too fast for him to judge. 

Hamlin Brings Receipts 

SMT Data from moment of contact. Image: Denny Hamlin

While in his motorhome after being taken out early, Denny Hamlin brought out the good ol' SMT data to prove his point. As you can see above at the moment of contact the steering input on the 9 car was the hardest to the left that he had turned the wheel all day, you also see break input hard toward the floor.

To read SMT, the higher the line goes, the more input from the driver. The Blue line shows the timing of the incident lap 185, Yellow shows Elliott's line on lap 183. 

I've seen a lot of people saying it is due to the car being damaged, but that doesn't control driver input (which is all SMT records). The SMT shows the intent of the driver. Either for or against, I'll let you be the judge.

My Opinion

It's pretty obvious that Chase Elliott hit the Breaks and turned hard left. It would in fact have been less believable if Chase flat-out admitted guilt. But I believe that NASCAR set a precedent last season with the Wallace/ Larson incident. Elliott intentionally attempted to right hook the 11 car sending him dangerously fast into the outside wall head-on. It was unacceptable at Vegas, it should be unacceptable here. 

Don't get me wrong, I 100% understand the frustration, even retaliation. In this situation, I'd have been pissed too, but right hooking someone is unacceptable. 

By: Tom Luttermoser