Did Joey Logano cost Chase Elliott a chance to win Sunday’s Cup race at Miami?
Elliott led with 30 laps to go when he came upon Logano, who was already a lap down. Elliott struggled to get by Logano and Denny Hamlin soon passed Elliott for the lead.
Hamlin went on to win and Elliott finished second.
Two weeks ago, Elliott and Logano raced for the win at Bristol Motor Speedway. Elliott drove it deep into the corner and made contact with Logano, causing both to wreck. Brad Keselowski won.
After the race, Logano talked to Elliott and was furthered upset by Elliott’s reaction.
“I had to force an apology, which, to me, is childish,” Logano told FS1 after that race.
Later on Instagram, Logano said that Elliott told him “you’ve done it before.”
As Elliott approached late in Sunday’s race, Logano raced him hard.
Asked how he viewed what Logano did, Elliott said: “I just need to get through lap traffic better.”
Hamlin was asked what he saw between Elliott and Logano.
“I’m sure that Joey probably ran him pretty hard there. I think most people would, given the Bristol situation. You almost as a driver kind of got to expect it.
“I don’t think it cost Chase the win. We had already ran him down. Yeah, we were in the middle of battling him, but I don’t think it cost him the race. I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. It’s all speculative.
“The way I saw it, (Logano) was very generous to me. That’s all I know. I appreciated that. I don’t think he really ran Chase hard. He just didn’t let Chase clear. I don’t know if he was battling right there for staying on the lead lap. Looked like two down.
“He just didn’t let Chase clear. If Chase could have cleared him... I don’t think he really held him up, he just didn’t give him the spot.”
Only the top three finishers are required to speak to the media after the race. Logano finished 27th and was not required to speak to media.