Coming to the checkered flag during last Sunday’s Daytona 500, 23XI Racing driver Riley Herbst jumped to his right in front of RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski. He hoped that he would get a push that would propel him from third place to the lead. But Keselowski’s momentum was too strong, and Herbst’s move was a bit too late. They ended up causing carnage as Tyler Reddick cruised past the checkered flag.
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The consensus after the incident was that Herbst made the move later than he should have and was a bit overzealous. But his team owner, Denny Hamlin, doesn’t see it that way. Speaking on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, Hamlin put out an opinion in favor of Herbst that hasn’t sat well with the fandom.
He said, “Coming to the line, Riley is coming up really fast to the No. 9 [Chase Elliott]. Instead of hitting him, and probably then, shooting him past the No. 45 [Tyler Reddick], he hits the brake to not hit him. He says, ‘I don’t wanna touch him. So, I am gonna go high.’ That slowing in momentum allowed the No. 6 [Keselowski] to get there. The No. 6 was not getting there. We are living in fairy tale land if people think the No. 6 was gonna get there.”
Hamlin’s co-host, Jared Allen, immediately called him out by pointing out how Keselowski, the No. 6 driver, actually did have strong momentum. Several fans agreed with Hamlin’s co-host and lashed out against the veteran driver. One comment on X read, “This is definitely one of his worst takes. He’s just coping, though. He wants to believe Reddick would’ve won either way when that definitely isn’t objectively true lol.”
I like ‘Actions Detrimental’, but man it seems Denny is incapable of being objective with anything regarding 23XI or JGR.
“The 6 was NOT getting there. We’re living in fairy tail land if anybody thinks the 6 was getting there.”
Even Jared called him on it..
cc @keselowski pic.twitter.com/jOQQJy2pRi
— Jeff Bluck-Gianchi (@Jeff_Bluck) February 16, 2026
Another said, “This is absolutely nothing new from this guy lol.” Does Hamlin have a bias towards his team when expressing opinions? Some think he does. One fan found a benchmark that he could compare his words against. They wrote, “Denny’s view is highly improbable and very skewed. Needs to view Letarte & McMurrays Inside the Race on YouTube.”
One more comment simply read, “Denny’s gotta Denny…” Many seem disappointed with him, more than angry. Perhaps the outrage will make him come out and clarify his stand in the next episode of the podcast. Herbst ended up getting awarded an eighth-place finish, and Keselowski, fifth place.
What did Riley Herbst say?
Herbst defended himself in the post-race interview, saying that he was trying to go side-by-side with Elliott and Reddick, attempting a three-wide photo finish. He claimed not to know what caused the crash and that it must have been a “matter of inches”.
Regardless of the margin, Keselowski was far from pleased with the young driver’s move. He said, “Oh, the [No.] 35 [Herbst] just wrecked me out of nowhere for no reason. That was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. He had no chance of blocking my run. Pretty stupid.”
It is also going to be interesting to see if and what Keselowski reacts to Hamlin’s views on the matter. Meanwhile, the drivers prepare to take on another superspeedway-style track with the upcoming Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway, or better known still as Atlanta Motor Speedway, this coming weekend.
