Denny Hamlin made it very clear on this week’s Actions Detrimental podcast that he had nothing to gain from allegations of potential race manipulation in this past Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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And then the Joe Gibbs Racing driver eloquently broke it down so well that any hint of manipulating the finish would have ended right there. Hamlin and Ross Chastain were involved in a last-lap collision that knocked Chastain out of advancing to the Round of Eight playoff semifinals, which begin this Sunday in Las Vegas, while defending three-time champion Joey Logano wound up earning the eighth and final playoff spot.
“If these guys are battling, it would give me a much better understanding to prepare if I’m going to attack the No. 1 [Chastain],” Hamlin said. “I need to know that he’s going to be really aggressive blocking him. That could have been a simple message.
“It then allows me to say to myself, ‘Who do I want to race?’ And it’s not race manipulation if I’m trying to get the best result for me. I’ve got no allegiance to Ford or Chevy or Joey or Ross, but I have interest in myself winning a championship,” he added.
Hamlin had no intention of wrecking Chastain
If the wreck with Chastain never happened, Hamlin was trying to do the math in his head in the final laps, who he would prefer advances. Yes, it was self-serving for Hamlin, but that’s how race strategy plays out.
If he had to do it all over again, “I think that I still go out there and I try to pass the No. 1 [on the last lap] because I think the No. 1 has a better shot of getting to Phoenix [than Logano],” Hamlin said, looking at who would give himself a better chance if he also gets to Phoenix. “I think the No. 22 [Logano] has the better shot of winning Phoenix. So, I can’t win Phoenix unless I get there first. Does that make any sense?”
In other words, Hamlin’s strategy was to get past Chastain, but still allow him to advance to the next round, rather than Logano, whose history—winning last year’s Cup championship, twice in the last three years and three times in the last seven years—would give him a better chance to get to and win Phoenix.
And remember, at the time of the incident between Hamlin and Chastain, the Trackhouse Racing driver still had a two-point edge over Logano to advance to the Round of Eight going into the final lap.
So yes, what Hamlin said makes plenty of sense. He needed to finish higher than Chastain, while at the same time, Chastain needed to stay in front of Logano to advance to the Round of Eight, thus eliminating Logano.
“It’s not a given that I want to race Ross over Joey,” Hamlin said. “Ross would have a better shot of keeping me from getting to Phoenix than Joey would, in my opinion, on pace, pace alone. I look at the tracks. I say yes, Joey has been strong on super speedways [like Talladega, which is the next race after Las Vegas]. Look at the numbers. He’s finished in the top 20 one time in the Next Gen era.”
Hamlin is correct: Logano has struggled at Talladega in the Next Gen car
Since the Next Generation/Gen 7 car was introduced in 2022, Logano has finished no higher than 19th at Talladega in the seven races with the Gen 7.
“They both have the same amount of playoff points. I don’t know what I would have done, but I certainly would have thought about it, and all those things would have crossed my mind. They crossed my mind Saturday night, given the situation, who do I really want to advance?
“One could make my path to Phoenix harder. One would make the actual Phoenix race harder. That’s the balance that you just don’t know. But I know for sure that had I made the decision [not to] pass the No. 1, do you know how bad I would kick myself in the ass if the No. 1 kept me out of the final four? My mental would be gone. I’d just be like, ‘You overthought it. What the hell? Don’t do that. Just let it play out naturally.’
“And in the end, that race played out as naturally as it did. My goal on the last lap was to pass the No. 1. I did pass the No. 1. I got wiped out, and Joey ended up getting in. So, it played out naturally, but I just think there would have been a lot of regret in my heart if I would have chosen to not pass the No. 1 and then he ended up keeping me out of the final four. That would have hurt.”
With everything said and done, Logano now sits as a major threat to every other title contender’s bid come the finale at Phoenix, given he can advance to the finale. More often than not, the No. 22 team has displayed that they are capable of it. It now remains to be seen if the natural progression at the Charlotte Roval means they get the chance to do so once again this season.
