Joey Logano Smacks Denny Hamlin In Pit Row Then Runs Away Like A Child Before He Has A Chance To Retaliate

Source - A half-a-minute post-race discussion between Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano was civilized, at least for the first 29 seconds. But it was the last-second ending that touched off the latest chapter in their off-and-on rivalry Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

The two drivers had a pointed but relatively calm talk after Sunday’s First Data 500, attempting to sort out the late-race contact that caused a tire rub and eventually a spin for Logano’s Team Penske No. 22 Ford. The difference of opinion seemed to reach a stalemate until Logano added a chat-ending smack to Hamlin’s right shoulder.

Hamlin took exception, lunging toward the retreating Logano as crewmembers interceded. Both expressed their intent to fight it out before cooling off.

Sunday’s post-race scuffle was another episode for Logano and Hamlin, who most recently called Logano “an idiot” for racing hard multiple laps down earlier this month at Dover — although he later walked those comments back. The two also clashed early in the 2013 season, with a post-race skirmish at Bristol Motor Speedway and last-lap contact at Auto Club Speedway that forced Hamlin to miss four races with a compression fracture in his back.

The latest incident — and their words afterward — underscored that their simmering issues remained.

I’m not a NASCAR expert by any means, but I’m learning. And what I’ve learned so far is that bumping people for the sake of bumping people = not cool. Bumping people with the intent of passing = kind of cool, so long as the pass will actually improve where you finish/not completely fuck over the other driver. Which seems to be the root of the issue here. Now, obviously there are two sides to every story…here’s what Logano had to say after the incident:

And here’s what Hamlin had to say:

And here’s the actual altercation:

Regardless of what you think or who you believe, hitting someone on the shoulder then running away is a baddddd look. Great for the sport of NASCAR because it gets people talking, but generally a terrible look for a grown man. It’s a terrible look for anyone. Logano essentially pulled a Mike Newhouse from Dazed and Confused. He started the fight  then waited for everyone to jump in so he wouldn’t have to face any retaliation. The only difference is, his plan actually worked. Needless to say, I’m  #TeamHamlin for this particular incident.

For those of you wondering how the NASCAR playoffs work. Someone hit me in my DM’s and laid it all out…

I left the thank you in there so you know I’m a good guy.

Anyway, the more I watch these guys race the more into I get. I’m not just saying that in the off chance Dave reads this blog and begins to think of me as the ‘NASCAR guy’ either, although that would be nice. I’m saying it because there are so many intricacies to the sport that the general population doesn’t understand and I feel like the more people know, the more into it they’ll be. I’ll follow up on this story if anything else happens, but chances are it’s dead until the next time they race.

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