Denny Hamlin had to have known they were coming.
After unintentionally (that’s the key word here) getting into Kurt Busch at ISM Raceway on Sunday — the result of which entangled Chase Elliott, putting him laps down — the Joe Gibbs Racing vet must’ve felt that spark from No. 9 fans reignite immediately.
For the second straight season, the Elliott faithful turned their ire to the No. 11 Toyota, and while No. 9 fans might’ve had a legitimate gripe after last year’s run-in between the two at Martinsville Speedway, Sunday’s incident was just an unfortunate circumstance.
Still, it didn’t take long for Elliott’s passionate fan base to let the flood gates open on Hamlin, which he addressed Tuesday on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/dennyhamlin/status/1062426598937370624
Apparently while racing for the lead with 30 to go I thought hmm how can I end his chances, oh yea. Get hooked in the RR down the straight and send Kurt down the track. That’ll get him
– Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 13, 2018
While it’s great to see fans having their driver’s back, there’s one small detail here being overlooked: Hamlin and Elliott have buried the hatchet. Quite some time ago, actually.
Man you should see some of this stuff. I wonder if they even realize that me and Chase are good? Have been for 10 months now.
– Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 13, 2018
Thankfully for Hamlin, Elliott chimed in and joked that the No. 11 getting hooked in the right rear was “executed perfectly.”
Executed perfectly at that. #blameDenny?
– Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) November 13, 2018
Hamlin seems to be on board with the hashtag, but just needs to run it by Elliott’s HMS teammate, first.
I like that hashtag. Does @JimmieJohnson own that trademark?
– Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 13, 2018
https://twitter.com/JimmieJohnson/status/1062462556177158145
These two drivers may not be sharing a beer any time soon, but they’ve clearly put Martinsville 2017 behind them … so stay out of Denny’s mentions!