“There Was Really No Celebration” – Chase Elliott Revisits His Pocono Win From Last Year, Reveals How Denny Hamlin Sent the Trophy Back

Last year when NASCAR visited Pocono, Denny Hamlin turned out to be the unluckiest of drivers out on the racetrack. After initially winning the race with his then-teammate, Kyle Busch coming in second place, both JGR drivers had to relinquish their positions after they had been disqualified after an extra piece of tape was found on the lower fascia of the front spitter. This modification was not present in the approved CAD files.

Following the declaration of the final results, it was Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott that scored the win. Albeit, not in a way that he would have wanted to, but that was just the circumstances. Although by the time the new results had been declared, Hamlin had scooted off with his Pocono trophy and later stated that he would return it along with the half bottle of champagne.

Ahead of the Pocono 400 this year, Elliott spoke with the media where he was asked where had been when he was declared the winner and if they celebrated the win or not. Furthermore, Elliott also mentioned how Hamlin returned him the trophy.

Where was Chase Elliott after Hamlin was DQ’d, crowing him the winner?

Elliott stated, “No, there was no celebration. I didn’t want to celebrate it, personally. That’s not how I want to win a race, personally.”

“I don’t think anyone at Hendrick Motorsports or on the No. 9 team, in particular, wants to win that way. We all want to go win them out right and make sure we feel like we earned it. We want to earn it every week.”

“So no, there was really no celebration. Heck, I was on the way home so when I landed, I had a couple of text messages saying ‘Hey, you won the race’. And I was like ‘We won the race.. no, we ran third’. Yeah, so that’s how I found out. It was just weird.. the whole deal was kind of odd. But it is what it is – it wasn’t anything I did, it just worked out, I guess.”

Elliott comments on Hamlin sending the trophy back

After Hamlin handed back the trophy to its rightful owner, Elliott mentioned how there was something missing. He mentioned that Hamlin’s daughter had kept the flag, hence he did not return the same. The 2020 Cup Series champion, then brushed it off with a smile, stating that it was all good.

He mentioned, “He actually gave me the trophy, but he kept the flag though because I think his little girl was pretty married to the flag. So, it was all good. I appreciate him sending me the trophy though we didn’t win it outright. I certainly would have rather won it the way he won it, but maybe this year.”

What happened to Hamlin was pretty unfortunate. But at the end of the day, everyone has to play by the rules of the game. If you are caught, you pay the price, and if you are not, well, then it’s an entirely different story.

In the end, it was a really good gesture from both drivers, one accepting defeat and the other not celebrating the same, since it was a gifted win.