A recap of the 2015 Budweiser Duel race at Daytona International Speedway: Denny Hamlin spun NASCAR pioneer Danica Sue Patrick. After the 150-mile qualifying race finished, Patrick walked up to Hamlin, grabbed her by the collar and demanded answers. Patrick was in eighth place with three laps to go and in good position to finish inside the top 15. But Hamlin’s Toyota hit Patrick twice, and she collided with fellow racers Brian Scott and Bobby Labonte, eventually running off the track. “What are you doing?” Patrick said to Hamlin. “Seriously! You did the same thing in training…same thing! You hit me on the left side and I turned around.”
“Listen to me. Nobody has your back like I do,” the three-time Daytona 500 winner responded. “Denny, that’s what I would have thought,” Patrick said. “Dude, you didn’t give me anything, that turned around on my back.”
“Okay… “Because I’m relaxed. As long as you’re relaxed, I have no problem with that,” came the reply. “Nobody else did that to me,” Patrick explained.
“Nobody else came at you. We have to come at you,” Denny Hamlin explained at the end of the confrontation. Here’s the video.
According to Patrick, who formerly drove the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Hamlin struck the left rear of his car, causing it to spin. Of course Patrick wasn’t happy, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was able to resolve the issue with him and calm an angry Danica Patrick.
Danica Patrick addresses her 2015 incident with Denny Hamlin
Danica Patrick invited Denny Hamlin to an episode of her podcast “Pretty Intense” in 2022. Among other things, Patrick mentioned rumors that Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan wanted to acquire a minority stake in Richard Petty Motorsports and recalled her confrontation with Hamlin at Daytona.
“Looking back on the situation, I think you said to me, ‘You’re too relaxed.'” “I didn’t do anything wrong, you’re just too relaxed,” Patrick said (via Yahoo News). “I’ll be honest with you… what was going on in your head?”
Hamlin claimed that Patrick thought he was being easygoing. But he explained that he wanted to push Patrick’s car a little bit, given his aggressive race strategy.
“I’m just like…I’m going to push you to get faster, and if I can’t push you, I can’t help you,” Hamlin said. “I just try to pass you every chance I get. I always try to push somebody who I feel is very stable, whose car is stable and who I can hit without spinning out.”
Danica Patrick is no longer racing NASCAR. She runs her own wine and designer candle brand. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin is looking forward to winning his 60th Cup Series race this year in addition to his first championship title. Tune in to NBC Sports to watch Hamlin in action on Aug. 11 as NASCAR prepares for the 23rd race of the season at Richmond Raceway.
