Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain’s ‘rivalry’ has been a talking point of the NASCAR Cup Series over the last couple of months, with multiple instances of contact between the two drivers spreading over multiple weeks of competition.
On a restart inside the final 20 laps of Sunday’s M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway, Hamlin and Chastain were battling for the lead side-by-side, when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver went up the track, pushing Ross Chastain into the outside wall.
Denny Hamlin runs Ross Chastain up the racetrack and into the wall! #NASCAR
? : @USA_Network
? : https://t.co/oRf9K5NyTp pic.twitter.com/JakNm7AuwO— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 24, 2022
After Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro pounded the outside wall, it bounced back into traffic, nailing Kevin Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang and causing significant damage.
Chastain would be forced to retire from the event early, recording a finish outside the top-30, while both Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick would be able to continue on.