Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Denny Hamlin-Chase Elliott incident
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is making his feelings known on the beef between Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott.
Ironically, Earnhardt Jr. has a unique relationship with both drivers, employing Hamlin as a part of his Dirty Mo Media podcasting team, while Elliott used to race for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series before he ever won a title in the Cup Series. However, Earnhardt Jr. was able to put his feelings for both drivers on the back burner to weigh in.
“I think they’ve had a history,” started Earnhardt Jr. during his Dale Jr Download podcast. “So I was watching this, the lap before that, so there was the restart and they’re kind of packed up, and [Aric] Almirola gets in the fence. … At the same moment, Denny is sliding up into Chase. Basically the exact same thing that happened a lap or two later, when the crash goes down. So you know, I saw that and I’m like, ‘Oh, Denny man. You’re going to piss him off.’ Honestly, anybody that, when you’re watching these guys race and they slide up into each other, you’re just waiting on the other guy to do something. Like, every time somebody slides into you, you lose it. So it seems to, it happened a few times during the race with some other drives, and you’re just like, ‘Oh s—, what’s the other guy going to do?’ … There was contact right then, in that moment. TV picked it up. I didn’t know if they mentioned it or not, it all happened real fast.
“… They go back around a couple more laps, and then Denny slides up into Chase again. I mean, you know, it looks like Chase turned him. It looks like it. It looks exactly like Chase turned him.”
That was just the eye-test, and Earnhardt Jr. believed what many NASCAR fans did as well, Elliott turned Hamlin on the straightaway. A couple factors were at play, but that’s what was on Earnhardt Jr.’s mind.
“A lot of people were saying, ‘Hey man, you know, Brad [Keselowski] hit Chase.’ All these other things, factors. How do you know what happened? How do you know what went down because of this, that and the other? And I looked at my wife and I said, she says, ‘Well how do you know what happened?’ I said, ‘Hey, you know what’s going to tell the tale, is the SMT.’ All the drivers have access to the SMT,” added the NASCAR Hall of Famer. “… Denny can look at Chase’s and vice-versa, and NASCAR can see all this. So I said, you know, she’s like, ‘Well how do you tell? How do you know what’s going to happen here?’ I said, ‘Well, the SMT will tell everybody what they need to know. It’s going to tell NASCAR what they need to know. Denny.’
“So Chase gets out and he says what he has to say. He does his interview, and he’s learned by what he’s seen over the past couple of years, you damn sure ain’t going to admit it, you’re going to say everything you can to lean far away from admission. There was a couple things on the radio that I think Chase might’ve said. Like, ‘Argh, that’s twice now he’s hit me.’ Something like that. So there was some frustration, naturally, that NASCAR could look at.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr: ‘I really don’t see how this works in Chase’s favor at all.’
Continuing, Earnhardt Jr. knew Hamlin was immediately going to look at the SMT data that he later posted to Twitter, and that’s exactly what the Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman did.
“I texted Denny, I’m like, ‘Hey man, you looking at that SMT?’ It’s like 30 minutes, an hour after the wreck. It’s within an hour. He goes, ‘It’s loading right now.’ I knew that as soon as he could get somewhere to look at it, he would. Sure enough man, he posted it on Twitter,” added Earnhardt Jr. “… He’s angry. I don’t think I would’ve posted it. I would’ve put that in my pocket. … But Denny went this other route.”
“… The timeline of Denny in the middle of something is a long one. He has all kinds of examples of what he should’ve done differently, how he should’ve handled this, that and the other. But I’m not criticizing him posting it, I thought it was entertaining.”
While Earnhardt Jr. would’ve kept the data in his back-pocket and let NASCAR handle the punishment, one thing is for sure — Elliott was at fault.
“Looking at it, looking at the data and looking at what I saw on the racetrack, it looks like Chase turned him. I mean, it just does,” elaborated Earnhardt Jr. “Chase is going to have to now I think, Chase is kind of ball in his court in terms of how he’s going to argue this. Because he’s going to have to. … I don’t think Denny would let NASCAR off the hook. Denny is going to push to have NASCAR take a look at this. I feel like, I was wondering whether an admission of guilt, or any kind of verbal admission or getting close to admission would factor into it, but I don’t think so. … I don’t envy the position NASCAR is in.
“They sort of set a precedent with Bubba Wallace, and Denny was quick to note on that in his interview at the media center, at the medical center. Denny put that narrative out in the universe like that. He had an intention to do that. ‘Hey, this is exactly like that.’ I don’t know how NASCAR doesn’t react. I really don’t see how this works in Chase’s favor at all.”
In the end, Denny Hamlin got what he wanted, as Chase Elliott was suspended for this weekend’s race at Gateway. It’s impossible for Dale Earnhardt Jr. or anyone else to argue with the data that was presented, regardless of how highly the NASCAR world thinks of Elliott.