Chase Elliott ‘still pretty frustrated’ after Martinsville melee

RELATED: Hamlin says his apology was necessary | Full Texas schedule FORT WORTH, Texas – Chase Elliott slid into his seat at Texas Motor Speedway’s media center and judging by the look on his face, he was all ready and in anticipation of the questions to come about last week’s post-race confrontation with Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway. No. He said he hasn’t spoken with Hamlin yet, despite Hamlin sending him a text message. And no. He wasn’t going to comment about any potential racing payback. “I’m not going to be answering any questions on whether I’m going to get him back or not," the 21-year old driver said. “Just don’t go there." Last week at Martinsville, the veteran Hamlin “moved” the second-year Elliott out of the racing groove to make a pass for the race lead with three laps remaining. The contact spun Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet off toward the wall, and Hamlin went on to finish seventh, while Elliott – who led four times for 123 laps – finished 27th. WATCH: See the incident here After the incident, the normally mild-mannered Elliott and the veteran Hamlin had words on pit road. Hamlin later apologized publicly on social media for his aggressive move on track. And he said Thursday that he tried to communicate with Elliott during the week, but has still not heard back from the young driver. Elliott said his view of the situation remains unchanged. “As far as last week goes, I don’t know my thoughts are a whole different now than they were then," Elliott said. “I’m still pretty frustrated about it and really as the week has gone along it’s given me a lot of time to think about how close we were to going to Homestead (for the championship race). “If anything else, that will drive you up a wall if you think about it. Definitely not happy about it and not a whole lot has changed about it. Instead of winning a race, or at least taking a top-five finish for his good work last week, Elliott now arrives at Texas ranked last among the eight playoff drivers, 26 points behind fourth-place Kevin Harvick with two races remaining to set the four-driver Homestead-Miami Speedway championship grid. Hamlin is seventh in the playoff standings, seven points behind the fourth-place cut-off position. RELATED: Hamlin issues apology During a Toyota event Thursday in the Dallas area, Hamlin again addressed the situation with Elliott. “I think anytime I’ve seen things like that in the past and someone has an arrogance or a sense of no compassion to the guy that you just took out, it bugged me a little bit,” Hamlin said. “So I felt there was a need for me to kind of issue an apology there because it was needed. Obviously, the other side doesn’t want to hear it. It doesn’t make their day any better, but I felt like it was important for me to get what my thought process and feelings were out there.” Elliott’s face was everywhere as he arrived at Texas Motor Speedway – home of his first career XFINITY Series victory in 2014. The track made posters featuring a large photo of Elliott, proclaiming, “Come see the People’s Champion at the Great American Speedway.’’ A smaller photo of Hamlin and Elliott having words on pit road is at the bottom of the poster. “I wasn’t expecting to have that or hear that or see it throughout the week,’’ Elliott said of the support he’s received. “It’s been … I don’t know if refreshing is the right word but it’s been definitely pretty encouraging seeing that kind of support despite the circumstance. To seeing people encouraging you and wanting you to go win this weekend … to me the message from the fans this weekend has been the best thing you can do is go and win one of these next two weekends and give yourself a shot at Homestead. I think a lot of the people that watch our sport know that and I am looking forward to giving it my best shot.”