Denny Hamlin and Danica Patrick are good friends off the track, but at Bristol Motor Speedway, friendships only go so far.
With about 11 minutes left in Saturday morning's first practice at Bristol, Hamlin tried to pass Patrick on the bottom going into Turn 1. But instead, he ran into the back of her car.
The impact caused right-front damage to Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and damage to the left-rear of Patrick's Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.
Patrick said she was on cold tires and was considerably slower than Hamlin.
"I wasn't very good anyway," said Patrick. "I was pretty slow. I came down the front straightaway and put my finger out to point him by, but he hit me on entry.
"So I don't know … Man, I love Denny but he makes a lot of mistakes behind me. I don't know if he misjudged it or I was going slower than he thought."
"I didn't see her finger," said Hamlin. "If she did (point) more than likely it was because I was on the outside of her on the straightaway so I couldn't see the left side of her car."
Hamlin said he thought Patrick might have had junk on her tires.
"I tried to go low and, obviously, we hung bumpers going into (Turn) 1."
This is not the first time these two have clashed. After their Daytona 500 Can-Am Duel qualifying race at Daytona, Patrick angrily confronted Hamlin on pit road.
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