Ty Dillon 'knocked your favorite driver out' with Atlanta upset over Hamlin

NASCAR got everything it could have wanted Saturday night: Chase Elliott winning and brackets busted.

EchoPark Speedway delivered the chaos expected, with many favorites eliminated from the race and the in-season tournament when a 22-car crash broke out on lap 70. But the biggest bracket buster came from the top with No. 1 seed Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin failed to finish the race after being collected in the biggest crash of the night. Ty Dillon, his opponent, finished eighth.

Dillon was the No. 32 seed – the last on the bracket.

“All you Denny [Hamlin] fans out there,” Dillon said with a big grin, “I just knocked your favorite driver out.”

It was a well-natured joke. Hamlin, who has three wins this season, taunted the fans after his most recent one at Michigan International Speedway by saying he beat their favorite driver. It’s a line that he has used on more than one occasion.

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“Our Mark III Employee Solutions Camaro was awesome,” Dillon said. “I’ve got to thank Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime; these are the best cars I’ve ever driven, and we’re building confidence and momentum week in and week out. Yeah, man, that was pretty cool.

“I owe an apology to [Justin Haley]. I got into those guys, just got loose and couldn’t hold it, and he was having good race. So, I apologize to those guys for taking them out, but pretty pumped about our day.”

Hamlin wound up 31st on the leaderboard, although he rejoined the race for a few laps to gain positions. But the crash damaged forced Hamlin into the garage in the immediate aftermath of the incident, and once he began losing multiple laps to the field, it became clear it was going to be a Dillon victory.

“All of us were in the top line pushing off Turn 2 and some zigged, some zagged, most crashed,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know. I was on the bumper of the [No.] 42, he was on the bumper of someone else in front of him, and we all got speedway pushing, zigging and zagging, and we all crashed. It’s just part of it and now we go watch the rest of the race.”