Tempers flared on pit road following the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday as two of NASCAR's most prominent drivers got into it.

Denny Hamlin, who won last week's playoff race at Kansas, and Joey Logano, the defending Cup Series champion, got into a shoving match following a conversation between the pair.

The at-first calm discussion turned physical when, as he was walking away, Logano aggressively patted Hamlin on the shoulder. Hamlin, who started on the pole and finished fourth, was not pleased by it and went after Logano. Several crew members intervened, with Hamlin eventually ending up on the ground.

"We were having a discussion, and everything was civil. And then like Joey does, he does a little push and then runs away," Hamlin said.

"That's Joey. He's scared. He said, 'Do you want to go?' I said, 'Yes, I'm here.' And then he runs away."

Logano said he was angered by Hamlin's in-race move where the veteran driver ran the 2018 champ into a wall, which resulted in a cut tire.

"I just wanted to talk to him about (the on-track incident). I was pretty frustrated. He kind of came off the corner like he didn't have a car on the outside of him. It ruined our day. We had a shot at the win for sure," Logano said.

"I just wanted to see what he was going to say. He really wasn't apologetic at all. And that's more frustrating when someone is like that, isn't it? I just wanted to see what his thoughts were, and it wasn't quite the answer I was looking for."

Logano finished in eighth, while Martin Truex Jr. took the checkered with a dominant run.

Contributing: Ellen Horrow