Denny Hamlin explains what sparked online brawl with Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith

NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin has addressed his recent online spat with Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith.

Following his controversial NASCAR Cup race victory in Richmond last weekend, Hamlin found himself the center of attention for multiple reasons throughout the week. He was first targeted for jumping the late restart at Richmond Raceway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was then involved in a heated altercation with Marcus Smith over X (formerly Twitter).

The issue stemmed from Denny Hamlin pointing out the damaged Sonoma Raceway surface barely a month after it's repave. Hamlin's staunch remarks led to a reply from none other than Marcus Smith, who's organisation Speedway Motorsports owns Sonoma Raceway (among 11 racetracks).

The debate, that began as a debate over track conditions, quickly turned personal. Both Hamlin and Smith exchanged pointed remarks, questioning each other's abilities as a businessman and racer, respectively. However, the duo made peace shortly after, with both Smith extending the olive branch and Hamlin reciprocating the sentiment.

Ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Denny Hamlin spoke to the media. He acknowledged that underlying frustrations that may have clouded his judgment during his exchange with Smith. He said (via Frontstretch):

"Certainly, there were some underlying frustration from my standpoint that I let get the better of me. No doubt about it.

"It didn’t need to get personal but it kind of took a turn for that pretty quick. Regrettable from my standpoint, but between the tracks and NASCAR, there’s nearly a half a billion dollars in profit and I hate to see (that teams) are struggling to swim upstream and that’s how they spend their profits."

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Denny Hamlin opens up on North Wilkesboro test

Hamlin also shared insights from a test conducted last month at the newly repaved North Wilkesboro Speedway. He said (via Sportsnaut)

"We had a car at the test that had some issues."

However, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran pledged to focus on the positive work that has been done around the racetracks in recent years. He added:

"I’ll focus more on the positives and that’s every track that has been paved in the last six years has had no patches on it whatsoever. They’ve done a really good job in investing their profits back into the race tracks really well and lets just kind of learn from this."

In the ongoing NASCAR Cup Series season, Denny Hamlin finds himself third in the standings after seven races. He has two wins and 252 points to his name, 18 points away from the top spot and four less than Kyle Larson in second.