Team Penske crew member throws Denny Hamlin to ground after discussion with Joey Logano
A crew member for Team Penske threw Denny Hamlin to the ground on pit road at Martinsville after Hamlin and Logano had an animated discussion after the race.
Logano was unhappy with Hamlin after late-race contact between the two. As Logano exited the discussion, he gave Hamlin a weak shove. That prompted Hamlin to walk after him and then crew members intervened.
Logano’s crew chief Todd Gordon was the first to get between Logano and Hamlin. Then an unidentified Team Penske crew member grabbed Hamlin and tossed him to the ground. Crew members need to stop unnecessarily intensifying post-race disagreements.
[Martin Truex Jr. wins at Martinsville]
Give me a damn break. This is so unnecessary. There was no need for other people to escalate this and throw Hamlin to the ground. Let them settle it. pic.twitter.com/jClGmwXq3t
— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) October 27, 2019
“We were having a discussion, everything was civil, and then like Joey does, he does a little push and then runs away,” Hamlin said. “So that's Joey. Scared ‑‑ he said, ‘Do you want to go?"‘I said, ‘Yes, I'm here.’ But then he runs away.”
Hamlin finished the race in fourth while Logano was eighth.
#NASCAR called Team Penske competition director, Travis Geisler, crew chief Todd Gordon and the crew member who pulled down Denny to the hauler after the race.
No drivers were called to the hauler— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) October 27, 2019
Gordon, Team Penske competition director Travis Geisler and the crew member who tossed Hamlin to the ground were summoned to the NASCAR hauler after the race. Our guess is that they were likely going to be told not to escalate situations like that in the future.
Logano did wonder if he shouldn’t have made the shove as he walked away.
“Yeah, I just wanted to talk to him about it and was pretty frustrated,” Logano said. “He just kind of came off the corner like there wasn't another car on the outside of him and ruined our day. A shot at the win for sure. We probably weren't going to beat the 19, but we had a top 5 for sure coming our way, but we just were able to survive there. I don't really know what happened because once he started hitting me he didn't lift, he just kept finishing me off. We ran each other fine all day, so I don't know. I don't really know what happened. He just kind of sends me up there and keeps on going with it. Cut down my tires and fender rubs everywhere.
“You know, at the end of the day we still got a decent finish out of it and some points in the stages at least. But a little frustrated with the situation. I wanted to talk to him about it, and maybe I shouldn't have shoved him at the end. It may have escalated it a little bit more.”
It’s the second time in three seasons that Hamlin has been involved in a late-race discussion. In 2017, Hamlin was the target of Chase Elliott’s ire after a misguided bump attempt sent Elliott spinning late in the race.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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