Denny Hamlin reveals his conversation with Ross Chastain and why he 'races the way he races'

Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain are a pair of drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series who have been virtually inseparable since last year when the Next Gen car made its debut. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver in the #11 Toyota Camry TRD and the Trackhouse Racing driver in the #1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 were the reasons for unfiltered entertainment for fans of the sport last year, and the 2023 Cup Series season seems to have some of last year's flavor lingering on still.

Both drivers, who hail from The Sunshine State of Florida, were seen coming together on the track multiple times last year, with their rivalry seemingly taking a turn at the World Wide Technology Raceway last year. The sport's visit to the Atlanta Motor Speedway also saw both drivers come together, with Denny Hamlin being on the receiving end once again.

As Hamlin continued to gain a reputation for all talk about getting back at Ross Chastain and taking no action, the JGR driver took his revenge at the sweetest time possible at Pocono last year where he doored Chastain on a restart and went on to win the race. Ironically, he was disqualified due to his team making an alteration to the front clip wrap of the car.

it is now widely accepted in the sport that Ross Chastain hasn't been targeting Denny Hamlin for all this while. The Trackhouse Racing driver's unique, super-aggressive driving style lends itself to incidents such as these, which have happened with other drivers on the track as well.

It is now, after all this time, after their run-ins throughout 2022 and 2023 that Denny Hamlin has revealed why Chastain drives the way he does, in an episode of his new podcast, Actions Detrimental. He elaborated on the breakfast meeting the duo took after their run-ins at WWT Raceway, and said:

“He invited me, said ‘Hey, I’d like to meet you in person versus over the phone. Let’s talk about this,'” Hamlin recounted. “I got to really know his upbringing and why he races the way he races versus the way I race because I find it very interesting."

Denny Hamlin elaborated further:

“It made a lot of sense to me why he’s as aggressive as he is. You get your values from your parents and the people that you surround yourself around as a kid. It was very apparent to me that he got pushed around a little bit and the people that he was racing with in the early series, that’s what they did to get wins. They just knocked each other the other way and spun each other and that’s what he saw and that just kind of kept going.”

Listen to the complete podcast below:

Denny Hamlin elaborates on him wrecking Ross Chastain at Phoenix Raceway last weekend

In a surprise turn of events, Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain came together once again on the track in last Sunday's Cup Series race in Phoenix. Hamlin elaborated on why he felt like he needed to fence Chastain during a restart, and said:

“My crew chief told me there was 18 cars on the lap, I’m about to get passed by everybody behind me who’s on fresh tires. I’m about to finish in the mid-teens. And I said, ‘you’re coming with me, buddy.’ It wasn’t a mistake."

It remains to be seen if the rivalry between the two drivers re-ignites, which frankly there is a high chance of happening. Chastain needs to nudge Hamlin once again, and all hell could break-loose between the two. The silver lining, however, is that it will bring more drama and entertainment for the fans!