Denny Hamlin renewed his rivalry with Ross Chastain in the final laps of the United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway this past Sunday.
Denny Hamlin via NASCAR YouTube
As seen in the video below, Hamlin drove up the track and shoved Chastain into the wall as the laps wound down.
After Chastain accelerated past Hamlin and attempted to rejoin the field, Hamlin roughed him up from behind, slamming into his rear end multiple times.
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Hamlin’s tactics cost him and Chastain multiple spots at the end of the race. Hamlin ended up finishing in 23rd with Chastain finishing a spot behind him in 24th. The two were running in fourth and fifth with only three laps to go after a late race caution.
Kyle Larson leads the field to the green flag in the final laps of the United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway via NASCAR YouTube
Hamlin shoving Chastain into the wall and then giving him a piece of the chrome bumper should not be a surprise. Hamlin had been promising payback against Chastain ever since Chastain wrecked him at the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway.
During that race, Chastain drove into the rear of Hamlin’s car and sent him into the wall. It crippled Hamlin’s car for the rest of the race. As the race went on Hamlin would pester Chastain trying to block him and slow him on several occasions.
After the race, Hamlin told Bob Pockrass he’d be seeking revenge, “You’ve just got to fence these guys hard just to kind of get their attention. It’s going to have to be meaningful, on a meaningful day.”
Denny Hamlin said when he pays back Ross Chastain, it will be meaningful and when he least expects it, that you have to “fence these guys hard” to get their attention.
More of what Hamlin said about Chastain after Gateway: pic.twitter.com/B0SCkCct6r
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 5, 2022
Chastain would get the better of Hamlin again during the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
He drifted up the track and ran straight into Hamlin’s left rear quarter panel. The contact sent Hamlin spinning across the track collecting Brad Keselowski in the process.
Following the wreck, Hamlin promised he would get revenge again saying, “It’s just all in whatever level I’m willing to take. It’s just another unfortunate circumstance for him.”
He would fulfill his multiple promises in the final laps at Pocono last year. Following a restart, Chastain would take the top line while Hamlin would start underneath him.
Chastain would drive way high through turn 1 and Hamlin would chase him up there, using his door to send Chastain into the wall. After hitting the wall, Chastain would come racing down across the track collecting Kevin Harvick who nailed Chastain’s left rear quarter panel.
Chastain would then drift to the bottom of the track where he hit the inside wall.
After exiting the infield care center, Chastain reacted honestly telling NBC’s Parker Kligerman, “I think that’s something that’s been owed to me for a few months now. I’m proud of the effort by Trackhouse and everybody on this Worldwide Express car. It’s week in and week out we keep bringing fast Chevy Camaros and everybody, Advent Health, The Moose, and Jockey to keep bringing bullets like that and keep bringing fast cars. It’s a testament to GM and everybody at Chevrolet. Yeah, it’s another fast one and we’ll be back at Indy.”
When asked if it was retaliation from Hamlin, Chastain said, “I’ve been owed that and probably some more for a few months now. So, yeah.”
However, when asked if the score was settled, Chastain shook his head and laughed saying, “I don’t know.”
Hamlin made it clear this payback at Pocono did not settle anything. After appearing to win the race he said, “I mean what did you want me to do? What did you expect me to do? We got position on him and he just ran out of racetrack.”
When asked if it was over between the two, Hamlin responded, “We are just going to keep racing hard until we get the respect back from these guys. It’s not just that. We’ve been wrecked four times, twice while leading in the last 10 months. And I’m at the end of it.”
Chastain would seemingly get the last laugh as his Hail Melon maneuver at Martinsville would secure him a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix last year, knocking out Denny Hamlin.
While the rivalry had seemingly cooled at the beginning of this season, it appears to have rekindled and it clearly does not look like it will be ending anytime soon at least by the way Hamlin drove at the end of Phoenix.
What do you make of Hamlin renewing the rivalry with Chastain?
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