"You got to give a lot of credit": Denny Hamlin full of praises for old rival Ross Chastain after Kansas

Denny Hamlin recently lauded Ross Chastain after his win at Kansas. The #1 driver, who failed to make the playoffs this season, won his first race since Phoenix last season.

Hamlin praised Chastain's ambition to win and his team's consistently superior results between the two Trackhouse cars. While Daniel Suarez made it to the playoffs this year because of his win at Atlanta, Chastain missed out on a spot and was able to clinch his first win of the season on Sunday.

And Denny Hamlin, speaking on an episode of Actions Detrimental, said that Ross Chastain deserved all the praise after his Kansas victory and claimed that he was more consistent out of the two Trackhouse drivers.

"Ross Chastain, you got to give a lot of credit to them, even though they're out of the playoffs and didn't make it, they're continuing to perform at a higher level. If you've noticed, he's certainly been the highest performing Trackhouse car when it comes to running positions, speed, even through these playoffs even though he's been eliminated and his teammate is in. So you gotta give them proper kudos for still fighting. It's very easy to, when you not make the playoffs, is to kind of ship it in for the final 10 races but they're not and I think they take a lot of pride in winning these races," Hamlin said [at 53:30].

Notably, Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain have had their fair share of rivalry in the past, with a notable moment being Elliot wrecking out Chastain in 2022.

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Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain's rivalry from 2022 onwards

The major highlights of the Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain rivalry include the JGR driver and Chase Elliott taking on Chastain at Gateway in 2022, which was followed by Chastain spinning out Hamlin at Atlanta.

However, the biggest point of their rivalry came when Ross Chastain pulled off a videogame move, soon dubbed the 'Hail Melon', at Martinsville to book his spot in the final 4 while knocking Denny Hamlin out of the playoffs.

The feud between the two drivers continued in the following season, with Hamlin forcing Chastain up the wall at Phoenix in March 2023, and later on his podcast, seemingly confessed to doing so with intention.

His comments soon attracted NASCAR's attention and within days, the #11 driver was hit with a significant penalty. NASCAR took away 25 driver points from Hamlin and imposed a $50,000 fine.

Denny Hamlin appealed against this penalty but the National Motorsports Appeals panel comprising Hunter Nickell (former TV Executive), Lyn St. James, and Dale Pinilis, decided the penalty was fair and thus would stand. Later on another episode of his podcast, Hamlin claimed that he chose not to show Chastain any respect on the field because he hadn't gotten any from the #1 driver.