Even after starting second and finishing third in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Denny Hamlin was not happy after the race when he and Darrell Wallace Jr. had a post-race confrontation.
Tempers flared early this year, starting between Denny Hamlin and Darrell Wallace Jr. As Austin Dillon took the checkered flag, there was a close battle for second. As the two battled side by side, contact was made entering the tri-oval. After crossing the start/finish line, both suffered minor crash damage after colliding with the wall exiting the tri-oval. Hamlin didn’t take kindly to Bubba’s actions on track nor his comments after the race.
While Bubba was quite emotional by placing the famed 43 car in the runner-up position, he did have a few words regarding the incident with Denny Hamlin.
“I want to see the replay before I say anything stupid, but he might need to take some Adderall for that one,” he told FOX.
His comment referred to Hamlin’s recent interview with Pardon My Take when pressured into answering if drivers take prescription medication (he claimed 70 percent of the field took Adderall, but more as a ‘blow off’ of the question to continue the interview). Shortly after exiting the media center, the two crossed paths and their interaction was caught on tape.
@dennyhamlin and @BubbaWallace not too happy with each other after the 500 @NASCARONFOX @espn @NASCARonNBC pic.twitter.com/5uKP9CkWmZ
— Ben Black (@ben_black7) February 19, 2018
Hamlin posted his response in three consecutive tweets.
Let me clue the idiots on Twitter what I was pissed off about. I had no issue with how the race ended. I was minding my own business on the bottom of the track and out of the blue I get ran into, my tire blown, and perfectly straight car destroyed. I’m good with all that.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 20, 2018
Then, I go do media and everything is fine. Then the last question is what was my response to what Bubba said. I had no issue until not only did he place blame on me but then went on to make personal comments about myself. I left the media center and saw Bubba 30 secs later.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 20, 2018
Anyone who wouldn’t take offense to the stupid things that was said has absolutely no backbone. I have one
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 20, 2018
All-in-all, this hasn’t been Hamlin’s only rough-up with another driver. Last year, he had a questionable situation with Ryan Blaney at Martinsville. He also made some controversial moves on track with Chase Elliott, which some believe may have prevented the Dawsonville native from reaching the final elimination round of the playoffs in 2017. Plus, there’s also the classic pit road scene with Danica Patrick three years ago.
Bubba Wallace seems to have put it behind him and is already focused on Atlanta: “We’re both pissed off at each other, but we’re racers. We’re competitive and we’ll go into Atlanta and be fine.”
