Hamlin hints Elliott should face suspension for Coca-Cola 600 hit

Denny Hamlin saw no difference in what Chase Elliott did to him Monday in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway than what got Bubba Wallace suspended late last season and feels the Hendrick Motorsports driver should be handed the same punishment.

Coming off Turn 4 on lap 186, Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota slid up the track and made contact with Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Elliott hit the wall and came back left, hitting Hamlin in the right rear.

The contact sent Hamlin spinning to the right across the track and into the outside wall. It was a nose-first crash for Hamlin, who climbed from his damaged car under his own power and retired from the race. Elliott’s car was too damaged to continue and he also exited the race early.

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“I got right-rear hooked in the middle of the straightaway,” Hamlin said.

Asked if it was retaliation for their contact coming off the corner, Hamlin said, “Yeah, it’s a tantrum, and he shouldn’t be racing next week. Right rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. I don’t care -- it’s the same thing Bubba Wallace did with Kyle Larson. Exact same.

“He shouldn’t be racing. It was a tantrum.”

It was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last fall when Wallace hooked Larson in the right rear off Turn 4. The two had been racing tight off the corner, and Wallace hit the wall. Wallace came back left across the track and hit Larson in the right rear, sending him head-on into the outside wall.

Wallace blamed Larson for putting him in a bad spot. NASCAR officials suspended Wallace for one race for his actions.

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“The 11 (Hamlin) ran us up into the fence there, and once you tear the right sides off these things, it’s kind of over,” Elliott said of the incident between him and Hamlin. “I hate it. I thought our NAPA Chevy was getting better. It was nice to make some gains again throughout the race. Our pit stops were really good.

“We had some pretty good fortune to get up toward the front there. So, it was just trying to get mile 600 and have a shot. Unfortunately failed to do that again.”

Elliott denied his hook of Hamlin was intentional.

“No,” said Elliott. “Like I say, once you hit the wall in these things, you can’t drive them anymore. Unfortunately, not, no. Just an unfortunate circumstance.”