Truck youngsters breaking new ground against seasoned veterans

Posted on October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 by Zack Albert

Noah Gragson’s breakthrough victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series last weekend provided a celebratory stage for one of the sport’s most vibrant new personalities. But that storybook finish at venerable Martinsville Speedway contained a bigger-picture aspect, a generational fight with an influx of young drivers making inroads against the established guard.

Gragson led the way, with Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates Harrison Burton a career-best fourth and Todd Gilliland fifth, putting three teenagers — all current or former members of the NASCAR Next youth initiative — in the top five. All three held their own against a pair of veteran series champions: Matt Crafton, who finished second, and Johnny Sauter, the defending series champ who came home third in Saturday’s race.

Gragson’s impressive high-lane power move gave him the race-winning pass and a tick mark for the victory column near the end of what’s been a topsy-turvy rookie season. Plus, his catch-fence chin-up and an upset stomach afterward may well resonate as one of the year’s most unusual post-race celebrations.

All three youngsters have benefitted from the tutelage of team namesake Kyle Busch, a former premier-series champion who has long had an eye for mining young talent. “I guess you can call him Professor Kyle at the university,” says the 19-year-old Gragson, who won in his 22nd career start.

RELATED: Full schedule for Texas

Busch happily pointed out that all four of his KBM teams have posted wins this year, led by series points leader Christopher Bell’s five victories. But at least for now, Gragson has the bragging rights as the organization’s most recent winner.

“I know Noah likes to egg some of these guys on somewhat, so he’ll be a handful the next few weeks riding the high that he’s got from today,” Busch said. “He’s fun, though. He’s — what’s the word — over-exuberant? But they have a friendly rivalry at least between all of them. Being at KBM, they have that opportunity to succeed with each other’s success.”

Burton and Gilliland, both 17, have already been in thick competition with each other in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Burton claimed this season’s championship by just eight points over Gilliland, and the two combined to win nine of the series’ 14 races.

That competitive streak has extended to the Truck tour, where the new generation has an opportunity to prove its worth against highly regarded veterans.

“We want it. Us young kids, we want it so bad. And they want it, too,” Burton said. “They’re not going to roll over and give it to us easy, but all the young kids that are in the Truck Series, they’re really hungry and we’ll do about anything to win a race. That’s some of it, and I think some of it’s just the kids coming up now have so much experience. … That kind of plays into it, and I think just confidence level plays into it as well. I think a lot of young kids are really confident coming in. That’s huge.”

Said Gilliland: “I think that’s the whole goal of the Truck Series is to make a name for yourself as a young kid and it was fun racing against the veterans like Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton out there. They’re tough, so it’s always fun to learn from them as you go and definitely earn their respect as you go.”

Posted on October 31, 2017July 4, 2019 by Jessica Ruffin

Heading west on Interstate 20, just past the state line of Alabama and en route to Talladega Superspeeedway, the names of the nearby town names begin to look a bit different.

There’s Choccolocco and Chulafinnee, located in Talladega National Forest. Continuing further toward the massive superspeedway, Eastaboga crops up, with Ohatchee and Sylacauga not too far away.

The names are no coincidence; Native American tribes, who christened the area with traditional names, once inhabited the land in the Dry Valley. Even the name Talladega comes from a Muscogee (Creek tribe) word meaning “border town.”

It’s the kind of notion that lends itself to the eerie legend of the Talladega Jinx.

• • •

The way the legend goes, the Talladega Jinx surfaced before the superspeedway made its stake in the Alabama soil.

There are three prevailing theories to the Jinx’s formation: The first one suggests that when Andrew Jackson and fellow Native Americans seized the surrounding land from the Creek tribe, that caused a Creek shaman to curse the land. Another says that the speedway was built upon Indian burial grounds. The final one hypothesizes that a Native American chief was thrown off his horse and killed while racing in the area.

No. 17 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series hauler driver DeWayne “Ryder” Zirkle — who moonlights as a certified paranormal investigator — doesn’t believe in the legend of the Talladega Jinx, per say. He’s been coming to the Alabama track since 1990 and hasn’t experienced anything supernatural or strange personally.

But, he added, with all the history and stories, there’s got to be something to it.

“When you come into Talladega, there is a different feeling, there’s a different aura,” Ryder said. “It’s a huge place, it’s just a giant place and a lot of ground covered and I’m sure there’s things covered under this ground, too …

“Lots of people have the Sixth Sense — you can kind of feel or sense things that just aren’t right,” he continued. “From the time you pull into this place — I arrived the other morning at 3 o’clock in the morning — you get the eerie feeling somebody’s watching, somebody’s there, something’s going to happen.”

In 1973, Bobby Isaac was leading the race at Talladega when reports say that he heard voices telling him to get out of the car immediately. He pulled into the pits and refused to finish the race.

“Some say it’s sinister, some say it’s cursed, some say it’s just ghosts,” Ryder said with a slight smile. “Whatever — there’s a lot happening here and a lot of people have said that when you come onto the track, something almost takes your mind over and you do things here that you normally don’t do anywhere else.”

• • •

No. 6 hauler driver Scott “Poptop” Clodfelter is one of those who believes the legend.

He’s been venturing south to Talladega with Roush Fenway Racing since 2008 and nearly every time he makes the trip down south, he has unexplainable problems with the truck.

Problems that he doesn’t typically experience anywhere else but down in Alabama.

“It seems like for whatever reason when I go to Talladega — either on my way to Talladega or while I am there or on my way back — I seem to have some kind of issue related to travel with the truck,” Poptop said. “I’ve broke down coming back from that location several times — I’ve even had to be towed out of the interstate after I left Talladega Superspeedway within about five miles of the speedway.

“We’ve all had troubles on the road before with the trucks, trailers, as many miles as we’ve traveled,” he acknowledged later. “But it’s just so ironic.”

This past trip, he began having mechanical issues with the hauler when he arrived in Alabama, issues that plagued him the entire weekend. When he arrived back in North Carolina, though, those issues seemed to dissipate.

“We get back to North Carolina and have those issues repaired and there’s nothing to repair because nothing’s broke….” he said.

“There’s not a doubt in my mind that something weird is going to happen when I go over there.”

• • •

It’s a curious place, that Talladega Superspeedway. Beloved by many, NASCAR’s largest premier series track houses large crowds twice each year for races that always seem to thrill.

But beyond the sound of the exhaust and engines, smell of the campfire and all the (fittingly, sometimes weird and spooky) sights that Talladega Boulevard brings, there’s this legend of the Talladega Jinx.

And regardless of its veracity, it’s a spooky good tale for sitting around the campfire on those cool nights — or for Halloween.

Well, maybe not good for everyone.

“Think I’m going to start trying to respect it a little bit more, maybe I’ll have better luck the next time I go,” Poptop said with a chuckle.

Cue spooky music — hey, it’s Halloween.

Posted on October 30, 2017October 30, 2017 by Zack Albert

Will Sunday’s Chase Elliott vs. Denny Hamlin dust-up from Martinsville Speedway carry over to next week?

Maybe so, maybe no. But at least according to Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports entry, the rules of engagement going forward may have changed.

“I’m cool with it,” Gustafson said from pit road after surveying the damage to Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet. “When we have his back tires jacked up going into probably (turn) three at Texas, that’ll be a bigger corner, then just be good with that, too.”

MORE: Martinsville fans swing to Elliott | Elliott offers his take | Hamlin’s side of things

With the opportunities to advance to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ championship stage dwindling, it’s clear the gloves are off for at least two of the eight drivers still alive in the Playoffs. Elliott’s hurt feelings were evident in post-race interviews, and with good reason. One of his best chances at making that first premier-series trip to Victory Lane — and the championship-race berth that went with it — evaporated with help from the forceful front bumper of Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota. Elliott’s post-race contact with Hamlin’s car and their confrontational words afterward underscored his frustration.

Having Martinsville as a table-setter for the Playoffs’ Round of 8 is a high-risk, high-reward game. Gustafson knows it full well, having helped guide Jeff Gordon’s drive to a championship berth in 2015 with a clutch Martinsville win that pushed the No. 24 team to an emotional high. Sunday’s race ranked among the lows.

“I don’t know if I expected to be just wrecked, but you never know,” Gustafson said. “It’s pretty intense, and it’s Martinsville, and it’s a transfer to Homestead. Got a lot on the line, but yeah, so anything can happen.”

Gustafson has had the front-row ticket for Elliott’s development this year, a season that’s seen its share of near-misses for a breakthrough triumph. The 21-year-old driver has been a runner-up four times this season, six times in his brief Monster Energy Series career.

Along the way, he’s been among his own harshest critics. Sunday, Elliott had another place to lay the blame, but still had little to show for his stellar performance than 123 laps led and a 27th-place finish.

“I think he’s improved,” Gustafson said. “He’s done an incredible job and it’s unfortunate that race wins have eluded us because I think that’s the only thing that we haven’t been able to do this year. We’ve done everything else.”

Posted on October 29, 2017October 29, 2017 by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The drama between Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott garnered most of the attention after Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and justifiably so.

When Hamlin dumped Elliott in Turn 3 with three laps left in regulation, the entire complexion of the race — and of Elliott’s season — changed in an instant.

WATCH: Hamlin moves Elliott for the lead

Overshadowed, but not overlooked, was the ongoing war between Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney, who swapped sheet metal throughout the event.

During a 121-lap green-flag run that consumed the second stage of the race, Harvick pounded on the bumper of Blaney’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, as Blaney used every tactic he could muster to keep Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Fusion behind him.

After every caution, it seemed, Blaney and Harvick would be racing in close quarters, and both ran out of patience.

During one sequence, after Harvick hit Blaney repeatedly from behind, Blaney turned left and door-slammed Harvick’s Ford down the frontstretch. Blaney later apologized to his team on the radio for damaging the car.

Both drivers were involved in a multicar wreck after race winner Kyle Busch took the checkered flag, with Harvick coming home fifth and Blaney sliding across the finish line in eighth.

After exiting their cars, the drivers had a pointed conversation on pit road.

“I just told him, I said, ‘Look, if you’re going to park it at Martinsville, you’re going to get hit,’” Harvick said. “He didn’t like getting hit, and I didn’t like the cheap shots, the brake checks and the hitting down the straightaway.

“It’s like I told him, I said, ‘If you want to race hard and you want to run into me after I pass you, that’s fine, but slamming me down the straightaway and brake-checking me is another thing.’ That’s the easy way to race.”

Blaney provided a bland explanation of the post-race conversation.

“We were just talking about how the race was and what we could do to avoid it the next time,” Blaney said.

Overall, though, it was the kind of action Harvick thrives on, and the top five was an added bonus.

“Bent fenders, hurt feelings — I love it,” Harvick said.

Posted on October 29, 2017October 30, 2017 by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin has enjoyed something of a home-state advantage at Martinsville Speedway, where the smoky burnouts for his five wins through the years have been cheered by mostly adoring fans.

The home-field faithful made a dramatic turn Sunday night in Martinsville’s first prime-time finish under artificial light, lustily booing the Commonwealth native for the late-race tactics that denied Chase Elliott another shot at his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win.

That same court of public opinion swung its heft behind the young Elliott, who egged on fans to a boisterous din that muffled Hamlin’s post-race interview, simulcast on the track’s big-screen ISM Vision display.

RELATED: Get full race results

Hamlin emphasized that the stakes for postseason-eligible drivers this time of the year are stratospheric, with Victory Lane visits meaning berths in the championship round at Homestead-Miami Speedway next month. That, he said, meant more than winning a popularity contest in what was formerly friendly territory.

“I don’t care about that,” Hamlin said. “I’m just trying to get to Homestead.”

MORE: Hamlin tweets apology to Elliott

And so was Elliott, whipping the crowd into anticipation each of the four times he took the lead in Sunday’s First Data 500. The table was set for another “We’re going to Homestead!” moment for the driver of the No. 24, with Elliott poised to reprise Jeff Gordon’s title-round clincher from two years ago. That bit of Martinsville magic came on yet another chilly autumn day under the onset of darkness at NASCAR’s oldest venue.

This year’s Martinsville moment for Elliott fizzled two laps before the scheduled end when Hamlin drove in aggressively in Turn 3, sending Elliott’s Chevrolet looping off his No. 11 Toyota’s nose and into the outside retaining wall.

WATCH: Hamlin makes contact with Elliott

That sent the event — the opener to the three-race Round of 8 — into overtime and stirred the crowd’s voice to new decibel levels. That ruckus heightened when Elliott broadsided Hamlin after the checkered flag and the two rivals exchanged words on the backstretch.

“Well, it’s just unnecessary,” said Elliott, who waved his arms toward the frontstretch grandstand to fan the emotional flames. “I think these fans have been coming here a long time and they know when somebody gets wrecked and when somebody had a nice fight for the lead, and that wasn’t one. That’s it.”

The fans have been coming here for a long time — 70 years to be precise — all lured in by the special brand of full-contact racing that has long been the .526-mile track’s calling card.

The addition of a high-tech LED lighting system has given Martinsville new capabilities for nighttime events. The existing capabilities — for producing slam-bang finishes and new rivalries with an overflow of emotion — remain captivating in their own right.

“All’s fair in this deal …,” Hamlin said. “Any time you get to a race track like this and get late-race restarts and you know that you have a Cup Series championship chance on the line, that’s what’s going to happen.”

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Brad Norman

RELATED: Full race results | Updated standings

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski had the checkered flag in his reach Sunday night.

A race that the No. 2 Ford driver had called a “must-win” for his team, Keselowski collected two stage wins and led 108 laps, but his hope of crossing the start/finish line first crumbled quickly as he was sent up the track by Chase Elliott with less than 10 laps remaining.

“I haven’t seen the video,” Keselowski said after finishing fourth. “I just knew I got in the corner and he (Elliott) was inside me and we had contact. I haven’t seen any more of that to really have any clarity to it. The track is just real slick on the restarts for everybody. You saw that.”

Under the new LED lights at the Virginia track, tensions were high as the First Data 500 came to a conclusion. With Championship 4 positions on the line for the eight remaining playoff drivers, it’s to be expected that aggressive driving comes with the territory. Especially at a track like Martinsville, and that’s something Keselowski understands.

WATCH: Tempers flare for Elliott, Hamlin

“It takes about five laps for anyone to get going or more, especially the leader, but there was a lot of hard fighting here because it’s a short track,” Keselowski said. “That’s what short tracks are kind of about is rooting and gauging. You try not to take anybody out.”

Keselowski’s Team Penske teammate Joey Logano was battling for a top-five finish late in the race until a blown tire ultimately caused him to spin out on Lap 493, which brought out a caution while Keselowski had the lead. Racing on the ensuing restart set up the eventual Keselowski-Elliott contact.

Several drivers after the race were asked if they thought the No. 22 driver, who is not in the playoff hunt, should have pitted with a tire rub to avoid a potential yellow flag, especially with his teammate leading the race.

“I think we’ve all got to be smarter for our company,” Kyle Busch, winner of the First Data 500 explained. “Certainly I think Logano lost his opportunity, lost his chance to win. I think they’re not really racing for anything, if you will … you’ve got to look at the greater good of the company, I would like to expect that our guys are smart enough to do that.”

Keselowski is third place in the NASCAR Playoffs standings — 38 points behind leader Martin Truex Jr, who notched a quiet second-place run on Sunday, but 29 points above the cutoff line.

MORE: Wrecked cars at short track

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin offered an apology to Chase Elliott, and accepted blame for moving the No. 24 car up the track and into the wall during the closing laps of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Martinsville Speedway.

👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/tpu6JSUcBy

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) October 30, 2017

Elliott was leading at Martinsville with less than three laps remaining when Hamlin, who had been all over the No. 24’s bumper, initiated heavy contact and sent Elliott spinning up the track. The leader at the time, Elliott would finish the race 27th. Hamlin assumed the lead, but finished sixth after losing ground on the final restart.

After the race, Elliott drove the No. 11 Toyota up into the wall, and the two emerged from their cars on the track following the race and exchanged words.

Hamlin’s full text: “I’ve raced nearly 10,000 races since I was 7. Today was the first time I’ve ever spun the leader. I regret the outcome because it was not intentional the way it turned out but I’m responsible for my own car and take blame. Nothing I say now can turn back the clock but it’s a life lesson and hope no kids out there who aspire to race thinks that’s the way you should do it. It’s becoming a normal in our sport now and I hate that I’m now in the discussion as a guilty party but I’ll move on and hope Chase, his team and fans will accept my apology.”

MORE: Watch the drivers exchange words

Posted on October 29, 2017October 29, 2017 by Staff Report

After the seventh Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race, and the first in the Round of 8, here’s a brief look at the playoff picture. There are two races remaining in the Round of 8 before the field is whittled to four, with four drivers eliminated from the postseason following Phoenix on Nov. 12.

Winner

Kyle Busch won on Oct. 29 at Martinsville Speedway, clinching a spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami.

Who’s hot

Brad Keselowski. Keselowski called this race a must-win; he didn’t, but finishing fourth is a great result for this group heading into Texas. He avoided the Martinsville carnage that plagued others.

Martin Truex Jr. His worst track in the Round of 8 produced a runner-up finish and a 67-point lead over the cutoff line. It’s likely Truex Jr. can clinch a spot in Miami with a strong showing at Texas.

Who’s not

Jimmie Johnson. An excellent piece of strategy after starting at the rear of the field got Johnson into the lead pack by the end of Stage 1, but he couldn’t stay there. The No. 48 slowly fell through the field over the final half of the race, ultimately finishing 12th.

Chase Elliott. It’s stunning to see Elliott on this side of the bubble after he led 123 laps and was pushing for the win with five laps to go. A late wreck, though, dropped him to 27th place. He’s in bad shape with two races remaining before the postseason field is set.

BUBBLE WATCH

Rank	Driver	Points to cutoff
1.	Martin Truex Jr.	+67
2.	Kyle Busch*	WINNER
3.	Brad Keselowski	+29
4.	Kevin Harvick	+3
—————	CUT-OFF LINE	—————
5.	Jimmie Johnson	-3
6.	Ryan Blaney	-6
7.	Denny Hamlin	-8
8.	Chase Elliott	-26

Next race

The Monster Energy Series travels to Texas Motor Speedway for a Sunday afternoon race on Nov. 5 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Who it favors

Wins at Texas: Jimmie Johnson (7), Kyle Busch (2), Denny Hamlin (2)
Average Finish at Texas: Chase Elliott (6.0), Jimmie Johnson (8.1), Kevin Harvick (11.7)
Driver Rating at Texas: Jimmie Johnson (107.3), Kyle Busch (101.5), Chase Elliott (98.3)

Who it hurts

Fewest Top-10s in past 10 starts at Texas: Ryan Blaney (0), Chase Elliott (3), Denny Hamlin (3)
Worst Average Finish at Texas: Ryan Blaney (27.6), Brad Keselowski (15.7)
Worst Driver Rating at Texas: Ryan Blaney (70.8), Brad Keselowski (88.1)

Posted on October 29, 2017June 16, 2021 by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The sun went down, the new lights came on and all hell broke loose at Martinsville Speedway.

In a wild overtime finish that took Sunday’s First Data 500 to 505 laps at the .526-mile short track, Kyle Busch beat Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leader Martin Truex Jr. to the stripe by .141 seconds to take the checkered flag and earn a spot in the Nov. 19 Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

As Busch crossed the finish line, a multi-car wreck behind him scrambled the running order and left a parking lot of mangled cars on the frontstretch.

But that was simply the final act in a drama that saw a succession of Playoff contenders lose excellent chances to win the first event in the Round of 8.

Chase Elliott held the lead with three laps left in regulation distance when Denny Hamlin dumped Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet in Turn 3, causing the 11th caution and sending the race into overtime.

MORE: Hamlin, Elliott clash

Ten laps earlier, Brad Keselowski appeared headed for victory and a guaranteed ticket to Homestead before Joey Logano developed a severe tire rub after contact from Busch’s No. 18 Toyota in Turn 1.

Logano spun off Ryan Blaney’s front bumper when the tire went flat in Turn 2, and Elliott grabbed the lead after the restart on Lap 497, with Hamlin following. Hamlin punted Elliott a lap later, and hard feelings continued after the race, with Elliott running Hamlin’s Toyota into the outside wall on the cool-down lap.

Elliott’s wreck set the stage for Busch to win for the second time at Martinsville, the fifth time this season and the 43rd time in his career. After Hamlin cleared Busch on the overtime restart, Busch cut to the inside and wheel-hopped into Hamlin’s Camry, forcing his JGR teammate up the track.

Hamlin fell to seventh at the finish behind Clint Bowyer in third, Keselowski in fourth, Kevin Harvick in fifth and Trevor Bayne in sixth.

“I wanted to get a better restart, pinch Denny down a little bit, but it actually kind of worked out better for me that he got ahead a little bit, gave me a gap,” Busch said. “I got down (to the inside lane), and he got into Turn 3 and just pushed up the race track and I knew I had to plug that hole right away cause I was just going to get beat on from behind,

“So I got up in there and rooted him out of the way a little bit, and we drag-raced down the front straightaway and deep into (Turn) 1, I just wheel-hopped, chattered the rear tires and it was sideways getting in there trying to calm it down with the brakes and everything else. Was able to get through there luckily somehow – I don’t know how – and beat Truex off of (Turn) 4 back to the start/finish line.”

Truex retained the series lead by 17 points over Busch. Elliott, on the other hand went from likely winner to major casualty in the space of one corner, finishing 27th and falling 26 points below the cut line for the Championship 4, with the cut coming in two weeks at Phoenix.

“I got punted from behind and wrecked in Turn 3 leading the race,” Elliott said. “I don’t know what his problem was. It was unnecessary. I hadn’t raced him dirty all day long. There was no reason for that, and he comes over and talks to me a second ago and tells me he had somebody pushing him into Turn 3.

“I thought that was funny, because there was nobody within two car lengths of him into Turn 3 behind myself. I don’t know what the deal was, but it is so disappointing. We had the best car I’ve ever had here at Martinsville. And had an opportunity to go straight to Homestead and because of him, we don’t.”

WATCH: Elliott, Hamlin exchange words

Keselowski is third in the standings, followed by Harvick, who holds a three-point edge over Jimmie Johnson, who ran 12th on Sunday. Blaney is six points behind Harvick and Hamlin is eight back, all but guaranteeing another wild race next Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway as the fight for the Championship 4 positions intensifies.

Posted on October 29, 2017October 29, 2017 by Staff Report

Chase Elliott appeared headed for his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday at Martinsville Speedway when the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Denny Hamlin nudged Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet from behind with three laps remaining, spinning Elliott’s car and dimming his hopes of advancing in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Elliott had been battling the No. 2 Ford of Brad Keselowski for the lead for most of the final 100 laps of the First Data 500, and Elliott took the edge on Lap 497 of a scheduled 500 as Keselowski dropped in traffic.

That was when a hard-charging Hamlin drove right up to the rear bumper of Elliott’s No. 24, initiating contact that caused the No. 24 to spin.

Elliott’s car sustained enough damage that he was forced to drop far back in the field as the race went to overtime. He would finish 27th.

After the race ended, after cars spun out in a multi-car incident at the checkered flag, Elliott got out of his car and spoke angrily to Hamlin — after he drove the No. 11 up into the outside wall on the cool-down lap.

“I got into the back of him and he spun out,” Hamlin told NBCSN. “Trying to get a race win. … Everybody was doing the exact same thing. I hate it for his team. I understand they’ve had a win for a long time coming, but this is for a ticket to Homestead.”

Elliott, for his part, remained angry after the race.

“My mom always said if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all,” Elliott told NBCSN. “He’s not even worth my time. … We had a good opportunity. I can’t control his decisions and whatever the hell that was. On to Texas.”

Later, Hamlin issued an apology via Twitter.

👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/tpu6JSUcBy

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) October 30, 2017

The impact for Elliott was monumental. A win would have automatically advanced him to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Instead, he’s now 26 points behind the cutoff line for advancement heading into Texas.