Chase Briscoe swears he didn’t mean to wreck Denny Hamlin, even if no one believes him
Joe Gibbs Racing is in a great position with just two weeks to go before the start of the Chase. All four of the team's drivers are in contention for the championship, with Denny Hamlin leading the standings and Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, and Ty Gibbs all having officially clinched their spot in the postseason. It should be a good, and ideally clean, race to the finish of the season, but…
Chase Briscoe maintains he did not intend to crash Denny Hamlin, despite the narrative that he did. The two are teammates now in Joe Gibbs Racing, but their relationship was strained after a 2021 incident at the Brickyard 400. Briscoe claimed that Hamlin ran him off track during the final laps of the race, prompting Briscoe to crash into Hamlin during a later sequence.
Briscoe's hit was even more suspicious as he had previously been penalized, which would have disqualified him from winning the race. Briscoe explained that he and Christopher Bell were hoping for a caution so they could pit and catch up to the lead. When they caught one, Briscoe found himself on the front row after being 34th. He sped into the grass and crashed, resulting in his penalty.
Briscoe stated that he was not thinking about the previous contact when he crashed into Hamlin, but rather focused on exploring his strongest part of the track. He said that he was congratulated for standing up for himself by Tony Stewart, despite having no malicious intent.
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