MARTINSVILLE — They booed the Virginian. Savagely.
More than any other image from last October’s wild Monster Energy Cup at Martinsville Speedway, that one endures: Denny Hamlin, Chesterfield native, five-time winner here, getting clobbered by Bronx cheers as he tried to explain himself on pit road.
The fans weren’t having it. Neither was Chase Elliott. Hamlin’s aggressive bumping with three laps to go had transported Elliott’s car from the lead to the wall, ruining any chances Elliott had of earning his first career Cup victory.
Hamlin later apologized via Twitter for his actions. Five months later, on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, he wasn’t in much of a mood to relive the event.
“It was a mistake on my part,” Hamlin said, “and I’ve moved on from it.”
Ha! Good luck with that.
Fox has been mining the Hamlin-Elliott dust-up liberally in its promos for Sunday’s STP 500. Minutes before Hamlin entered the interview room Saturday, the televisions tuned to FS1 were flashing the emotion-filled October clips that made these two guys less like drivers and more like boxers getting ready for a big rematch.
Hamlin understands — to a point.
“Those types of incidents have happened for a long time in the course of NASCAR history by a lot of different people,” Hamlin said. “It’s really a lot to do with the people in play. Maybe if the shoe was on the other foot and it was the other way around, it probably would have been cheers. I don’t know.”
Indeed, the post-race scene in October seemed less about vitriol for Hamlin and more about Elliott’s burgeoning popularity. Hamlin, who won four times at Martinsville in a seven-race span from 2008-10, has been bathed in applause here many times.
But during driver introductions on Sunday, he probably should expect something a little different than the typical home-state love fest.
“Thank goodness this is not Texas Motor Speedway or we’d have a boxing ring waiting for us outside,” Hamlin said with a smile. “It’s part of short track racing. It always has been for many, many years. It’s bad to be a part of it on that particular night.”
It was worse, though, for Elliott. Much so.
While there’s no guarantee he would have gone on to win — this place has colorful history of late crashes and cautions — Elliott was close enough to hear the ticking of the grandfather clock.
“I mean, the could-have, would-have game doesn’t really matter,” Elliott said Saturday. “There was a lot that was laying on that race. It wasn’t just a win, it was a chance to go race for a championship, so that obviously had a lot of implications. But it doesn’t matter. It didn’t happen. I can’t turn back time.”
The third-year driver enters Sunday still looking for his maiden Cup victory. Rather than replay the wreck in his mind, he’s tried to visualize all the things he and his team did right in October that put them in contention to win.
Feuds might make for good TV, but they are far down his list of priorities.
“I haven’t really had a whole lot of issues with a lot of people,” Elliott said. “I try to show respect to guys that show me respect. I think there has been a very mutual understanding there.
“There are a lot of guys I enjoy racing with. There are some guys I don’t, that don’t enjoy racing with me, which is fine, that is their opinion. I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I think it all kind of makes the world go around.”
And, sometimes, makes the Virginians boo their own.