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Denny Hamlin Rips Into Chad Bryant And His Team For Attack On Corey Heim, Calls For At Least A Year Suspension

September 29, 2026  ·
  John Trent

Denny Hamlin unloaded on Chad Bryant and his racing team after they attacked Corey Heim following the race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night.

The attack came in the wake of hard racing for the win at the end of the race and tempers getting lost on the cooldown lap. Heim in the No. 22 Nelson Motorsports car battled with Treyten Lapcevich in the No. 77 and Caden Kvapil in the No. 88 for the win. As they got the white flag, Heim gave Lapcevich the bumper in turns 1 and 2 that got him sideways. After he got it corrected exiting the corner, the two beat and banged down the back stretch. Heim then drove it deep into 3 and 4 and pushed Lapcevich up the track. 

While all that was happening, Kvapil pulled away to get the win. Heim finished second and Lapcevich settled for third.

On the cooldown lap, Lapcevich expressed his displeasure by coming down on Heim. Heim responded by running into the side of Lapcevich’s car and then up and over his left front. Heim then crashed into the outside wall while Lapcevich spun to a stop in the outside of turn 2.

After post-race interviews were conducted where both Lapcevich and Heim shared their points of view on the cooldown lap wreck, Heim was attacked by multiple members of the Chad Bryant Racing team at the Hot Dog stand in the infield.

Hamlin, who is one of the co-owners of 23XI, the team that Corey Heim competes for in the Cup Series, reacted to the attack on the most recent episode of Actions Detrimental and unloaded, “Just complete classlessness from Chad Bryant, the owner, and his team. Listen to what they did. Those [freaking] cowards waited on Corey Heim to leave his car and leave his team and then jump him while he was on the way to his hauler.”

“I don’t know who’s in charge of NASCAR Regional, but there is absolutely no way that any of those guys should be in a pit lane for the next year at least,” Hamlin added. “And I want them to say publicly what they do to them. And if it’s nothing, I will have a major problem. But none of those cowards should be in a pit lane for the foreseeable future.”

Not only did Hamlin call for a minimum year suspension, but he also called for NASCAR to get the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 race at Martinsville under control, “They got to get control of the whole Martinsville thing because it’s spiraling out of control. And I don’t know who’s in charge of it, but they got to do better. And just really put some real rules down that, ‘If we’re going to have fights, then this will be your last Martinsville for quite some time or last short track race you’re going to attend for quite some time.'”

“I have no respect for those guys,” Hamlin concluded.

Hamlin is not the only one to express a distaste for what happens at Martinsville. In a deleted post to X, JR Motorsports Crew Chief for Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch Rodney Childers wrote, “Everyone always wonders why I haven’t been to the Martinsville late model race in 26 years, even though I love late model stock racing. It’s the same crap every time. It’s hard racing on a green, white, checker. [Crap] is going to happen. There’s no way around it. stay in your pit.”

Kenny Wallace also said in a recent episode with Coffee with Kenny, “They got to quit this fighting. They were racing at Martinvsille and these crew members, [freaking] crew members attacked Corey Heim. I don’t car what Corey Heim did. Hey, crew members, you are not driving the race car. You might build them and you might own them, but you’re not driving. And that’s racing. That’s a chance you take and Martinsville’s Martinsville.”

Later in the episode, Wallace added, “Guys, cut your [crap] out. You look ugly. It’s horrible. It’s not good. Now, you’re going to meet some men going, ‘Man, that’s awesome. They need to kick the [crap]out of him.’ Men that like to knock each other out that’s for fighting. You’re going to kill somebody. You’re going to hit them wrong and you’re going to go to jail and it’s not going to be right. Quit acting like fighting’s good.”

“I know all about Martinsville. You’re going to get into each other sometimes when you don’t want to. But you don’t start trying to kill people over cars going in a circular rotation,” he said. “It’s total bull[crap]. Crew members, stop it. You’re going to go to jail. You’re going to hit somebody wrong and you’re going to hurt them.”

NEXT: Treyten Lapcevich Releases Statement Condemning Attack On Corey Heim After Race At Martinsville

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Author: John Trent