By Denny Hamlin says he believes Joey Logano’s explanation for the Martinsville contact that spun Hamlin and Christopher Bell.
Hamlin and Bell both spun after contact from Logano on Sunday. On this week’s Actions Detrimental, his weekly motorsports podcast, he explained the conversation the two had since then.
Logano went three-wide and made contact with Bell, who slid into Hamlin. Both Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas spun.
What Logano Told Hamlin
Hamlin said he asked Logano why he forced the move when there was no one behind them. Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined Hamlin as a guest host for the episode.
“I said, ‘Hey, did you really feel like you had to jam it in there three-wide? There was actually nobody behind us; we were the last cars on the racetrack because we had to take the wave-around from the Hocevar self-spin,'” Hamlin said.
Logano’s radio line during the race was “Leave me room,” Heavy reported. Hamlin then shared Logano’s reply.
“He said, ‘I’ll be honest with you. I thought the 20 was just blocking me down the straightaway. I didn’t know he was on the inside of you,'” Hamlin said.
“And I looked at it, and I’m like, I can see where that’d be a possibility. And so I just said, ‘Gotcha, I understand.’ I take him at face value on that,” he added.
Hamlin said the in-car camera from Logano’s No. 22 Ford backs that up.
“If you look at his in-car, you can’t see me,” Hamlin said. He added, “And so it looks like Joey got a run off, and it looks like, if I’m Joey, the 20 is just trying to block me.”
“And he’s like, ‘Well, [expletive] that,'” Hamlin added.
“Hey, I’ma just pop him here and send him up to the wall a little bit,” someone else on the show chimed in.
“And I just was the innocent guy that was there,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin and Logano have a long history. They have clashed on and off the track since Logano left JGR for Team Penske, including at Martinsville in 2019.
What It Means for the Title Fight
The spin came after Hamlin had already lost track position by staying out in Stage 1. He called his title chances unrealistic after finishing sixth.
Logano finished 18th at Martinsville, and Bell recovered to finish 10th. Hamlin is third in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, 70 points behind Kyle Larson. Bell is second, 67 back.
The Cup finale is Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Larson can clinch his third title.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/denny-hamlin-asked-joey-logano-194000814.html
