Denny Hamlin claims 23-car wreck was 'best thing that happened' for quality of NASCAR Atlanta race

Denny Hamlin believes the major wreck that happened at the race in Atlanta was a great thing for NASCAR. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin explained why the 23-car wreck helped the race become more compelling.

“That wreck was the best thing that happened to that race,” Denny Hamlin said. “There’s no question about it whatsoever. What it did was it created space between the cars. We’re not log-jammed two by two by two by two by two. There was space.

“There was only 15 cars, maybe that were not damaged. If you look, all the passing that was done at the end of that race, it was created through space of the cars, and that’s what we used to have on Superspeedways is space to work.”

Hamlin went on to say that superspeedway tracks like Daytona and Talladega provide no space while competing. “Atlanta cleared out the field to create the space to create great racing,” Hamlin stated.

Denny Hamlin shares more on Chase Elliott and the NASCAR Atlanta race

After the wreck, Chase Elliott won the race in Atlanta. It was a special victory for him as he won on his home track. When talking about Elliott, Hamlin said he handled his car better than anyone else.

“He could hold the bottom line and hold it wide open easier than anybody else could that I noticed,” Hamlin explained. “He had what looked like the perfect balance, the perfect amount of grip, and he was able to capitalize on it with a great move at the end.”

After the race, Elliott was asked if it was more satisfying to win in Atlanta since it was a wild race.  “Just to win a race is nice in general. I’m not going to go picky whether it’s wild or boring,” Elliott said. “It was nice to come out on the good end of that. It could have been one of five of us, five or six of us, there at the end. I think for me, fortunately, the runs just really timed up at the perfect time. We were able to do something with them. I’m proud of race wins, whether they’re wild or boring or lucky or whatever, anywhere in between.”