Denny Hamlin clears the air surrounding John Hunter Nemechek blaming him for Chase Elliott wreck

John Hunter Nemechek claimed he got “run over” by Denny Hamlin on Lap 311 of Saturday’s Bristol Night Race, leading to his contact with Chase Elliott. Ultimately, the contact sent Elliott crashing into the outside wall.

Hamlin responded to Nemechek’s accusation on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast. Hamlin said he did hit Nemechek, but only after he made contact with Elliott first.

“No, I hit the 42 after he ping-ponged off the 9,” Hamlin said. “So, what it looked like happened is the 9 tried to get in a hole, and he was running significantly slower than the cars that were on the freight train running the bottom. John Hunter didn’t see it coming or didn’t check up in time, he hit him and when he hit him, he stopped in front of me, so I hit him. So, no, the contact was from the 9 pulling into a lane running quite a bit faster. And then we ping pong from there. … I was the second guy in contact.”

Denny Hamlin involved in John Hunter Nemechek-Chase Elliott incident at Bristol

Both Nemechek and Hamlin continued on at Bristol, finishing 14th and 31st, respectively. It was Elliott who saw his race come to an immediate end. Elliott spoke with NBC Sports after the incident and without seeing the points, he assumed his playoffs were over.

In reality, Elliott had enough of a buffer that his playoff spot was in no real jeopardy. This is how he viewed the incident in real time:

“It was a game of just how quick can you get to the bottom after a few laps to preserve your tires. I thought I was doing the smart thing,” Elliott said. “The Penske guys got position on me, so I was just trying to get back down in line. I got a huge shot from behind and I don’t know if he [Hunter Nemechek] had maybe gotten hit or I just stacked the lane up that much or what. Nonetheless, it happened, and it’s done. Looks like we’re in a bit of a pickle now.”