Last time the series was at the “Paperclip” Denny Hamlin wrecked Chase Elliott from the lead with just three laps remaining. Elliott slammed Hamlin into the Turn 3 wall on the cool-down lap, and the two exchanged words after exiting their cars.
This time around there was no retaliation from Elliott, but Hamlin managed to tangle with Kevin Harvick during Monday’s snow-delayed STP 500.
Trying to make his way back to the front after winning Stage 1, Hamlin tapped Harvick multiple times in the rear bumper at the half-mile track. Harvick wasn’t about to give up his spot and brake-checked Hamlin, resulting in front-end damage for the No. 11.
“He (Harvick) just got to me and I think bumped me three or four times," Hamlin told Fox Sports after the race. “And then I was just bumping him back and he brake-checked me. I probably shouldn’t have brake-checked him in the first place. They were just some light bumps here and then slammed on the brakes here. So, classy.”
“He was on the bottom and I knocked him out of the way,” Harvick said of the run-in with Hamlin. “He hit me a couple times and I was just trying to make sure I had my car under control.”
After a pit stop with 115 laps to go, Hamlin had to make a second stop to fix damage — likely from contact with Harvick — that caused his No. 11 car to overheat.
Hamlin was able to work his way back into the top 15 for a 12th-place finish while Harvick finished fifth.
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