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Denny Hamlin says he's still 'not all the way back' following wreck with Chase Elliott at Charlotte

Nick Profile Picby:Nick Geddes06/04/23

NickGeddesNews

Denny Hamlin
(Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin is “still not all the way back” after being intentionally dumped by Chase Elliott during this past Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Hamlin made the revelation Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway when asked if he’d be an advocate for drivers being less aggressive in wake of the accident.

“It was hard,” Hamlin said, via Daniel McFadin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “It was a hard week for sure and I’m still not all the way back, but I’m gonna race and be fine tomorrow… Certainly there’s too much at stake. I think that’s ultimately why the penalties have been as harsh as they have been in these circumstances.”

NASCAR suspended Elliott for intentionally dumping Hamlin on Lap 186. Elliott will miss his seventh race of the 2023 Cup Series season after missing six earlier this year recovering from a leg injury. The crash occurred on the front stretch after Elliott made contact with the wall coming out of Turn 4 with Hamlin beside him. Elliott appeared to take exception with being squeezed against the wall by Hamlin, and responded by deliberately hooking him.

Hamlin revealed his full emotions during the Tuesday edition of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast, saying Elliott threw a “hissy fit.”

Denny Hamlin: Chase Elliott threw a ‘hissy fit’

“There’s no possible explanation that he could possibly give — which he didn’t — of reason for hanging a left,” Hamlin said. “You know, he obviously didn’t want to admit it. He did the ‘Ahh I can’t hear you, sorry I can’t hear what you’re saying, but yeah, my car, just couldn’t drive it.’ Bulls—. The f—— wheels were dead straight. Even after we crashed and like, destroyed our s—, he goes down the back straightaway. And look at both tires. Front tires are pointing the correct direction. And I pointed out in the data that I tweeted that once he got into the wall, there was nothing wrong with his car.

“He 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. So you can tell that basically if your line is skewed one direction or another where you had to turn it left, turn it right where the bent a toe link or done significant damage.

“For God sakes, Tyler Reddick pounded the wall twice as hard as he did and didn’t hurt his car. Everyone hits the wall, but he threw a hissy fit and he just hung a left on us [on] the most dangerous part of the racetrack that you possibly could. It ended my day and in my opinion, he shouldn’t be racing next weekend because NASCAR set a precedent last year on this.”