Christopher Bell taking the checkered flag in the All-Star Race wasn’t a result that came out of left field. While it marked Bell’s first All-Star victory, fans have come to expect him to contend and win on any given weekend. The same holds true for Joey Logano. But when the defending All-Star winner couldn’t hold off Bell in the closing laps, he didn’t hide his frustration with how the #20 raced him to the finish. Denny Hamlin, for his part, didn’t let the moment pass without weighing in.
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The final 28-lap green-flag run became the stage for a no-holds-barred duel between Bell and Logano. Armed with fresher right-side tires, Bell, who had pitted under the promoter’s caution on Lap 216, carved his way through traffic after restarting sixth on Lap 223.
Bell stayed glued to Logano’s bumper and steadily reeled him in, despite repeated blocking attempts from the #22 driver. But on Lap 241, Bell managed to pull alongside. As the two entered the corner, Bell pushed Logano high toward the wall and completed the pass that ultimately sealed the win.
Logano wore the defeat but didn’t mince words. He called Bell’s move “fair,” laced with sarcasm, and admitted he would have returned the favor had he been able to close the gap. But on his podcast, Denny Hamlin didn’t hold back in critiquing Logano’s post-race comments.
“I don’t know. That was an odd interview,” Hamlin said. “I listened to it, and I don’t know. I didn’t know. I just didn’t know how to take it because it was like I was listening to Joey and I was like it made it sound like the #20 just wiped them out or something and then and he was all pissed… I just felt like he was raging on the inside. It was just it was it was odd to me.”
Did Hamlin defend the 2024 NASCAR Cup Champion for his frustration?
Hamlin pointed out the irony that Logano had raced Bell just as aggressively, blocking him multiple times earlier in the run. Yet when the tables turned, the reaction didn’t quite add up. However, the #11 JGR driver didn’t take direct aim at the Team Penske driver but instead suggested that Logano deserved the benefit of the doubt.
He pointed out that drivers often speak in the heat of the moment, fresh out of the car, without the full picture, and that Logano may not have seen the replays showing how he had crowded the #20 car both high and low in the preceding laps, prompting Christopher Bell to return the favor when the opportunity came.
Hamlin defended the reaction, saying, “[Maybe] He didn’t know how close this angle was or that angle was. And maybe he didn’t know that he crowded C Bell up into the fence, a couple of laps before. So, you got to give the drivers a little bit of grace because they are just fresh out of the car and they haven’t seen it all.”
Logano hasn’t followed up since that pit road interview, but should he speak on a podcast or during media availability ahead of the Charlotte race, his perspective, after reviewing the footage with a cooler head, would offer insight into how he now views the final-lap exchange with Bell.
