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Crash Sets Off Tempers At Dover

Published: Sep 24, 2007

DOVER, DEL. - Denny Hamlin's car crashed into Kyle Petty's bumper. Then a furious Petty got in Hamlin's face. Hamlin responded with verbal threats about wanting to fight.

With all the finger pointing and trash talking, it's too bad Ric Flair didn't stick around after his Busch Series appearance a day earlier to watch this skirmish.

Hamlin, one of the 12 Chase drivers, caught Petty from behind, and they wrecked shortly past the midway point of Sunday's 400-mile race at Dover International Speedway. Both cars went to the garage, but Hamlin stayed in his with his helmet on while his crew worked on repairs.

Petty, who was being lapped, entered the garage and pulled off Hamlin's window net. They exchanged words, Petty pointed at Hamlin and slapped the visor down on Hamlin's helmet.

Petty accused Hamlin of being too aggressive and taking too much space in one of the turns.

"It's a shame that a guy with that much talent has to drive like that," Petty said. "We've seen it a lot. We've seen it all year long. Even his teammate, Tony Stewart, talked about it. I think it pretty much speaks for itself."

After the slap - and after Petty walked away - Hamlin eventually got out of his car, took off his helmet and tried to go after Petty. He was restrained by officials.

RECORD ROUSH: With Carl Edwards making the trip to Victory Lane, owner Jack Roush won his 100th career race. Roush, who started with Ford Racing in 1988, won his first career race with Mark Martin on Oct. 22, 1989.

Seven drivers have combined for the 100 wins: Martin (35), Jeff Burton (17), Matt Kenseth (15), Kurt Busch (14), Greg Biffle (11), Carl Edwards (7) and Jamie McMcMurray (1).

Roush won Cup championships with Kenseth in 2003 and Biffle in 2004.

CREW MEMBER HURT: There was a scary situation 80 laps into in the race when a loose tire on pit road struck one of Michael Waltrip's crew members in the back of the head. Waltrip's gas man, Art Harris, was hit in the helmet, knocked down, and taken out on an ambulance to the infield care center.

Harris was treated and released from the hospital.

SPARK PLUGS: IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti is close to a deal with Nextel Cup team owner Chip Ganassi to make his stock car debut next month in an ARCA race at Talladega. Franchitti, who won the Indianapolis 500 in May, is expected to leave Andretti Green Racing for a ride in NASCAR next season. … Bobby Labonte was saluted for making 500 career starts.

The Associated Press