Denny Hamlin essentially had control of who would advance to the Round of 8 of the <a href="https://www.on3.com/pro/category/nascar/news/">NASCAR</a> Cup Series playoffs between Ross Chastain and Joey Logano. The only problem for Hamlin is he wasn’t aware of the points battle on the final lap of Sunday’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL. 



Driving blind to what was going on around him, Hamlin passed Chastain, who was fighting his car around the racetrack. That pass meant that Chastain and Logano were now tied on points. Logano owned the tiebreaker on Chastain. Hamlin was upset his team never notified him of the situation. Had he known and decided not to pass Chastain, would it have been race manipulation? He doesn’t believe so. 



“There’s obviously two reasons I would want to know,” Hamlin said on Monday’s <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2TacQijLtO435BafLGcaHN?si=a8a55061e43e489f&nd=1&dlsi=1c0d92c21d204c60">Actions Detrimental</a> podcast. “One is if these guys are battling, it would give me a much better understanding to prepare if I’m going to attack the 1. I need to know that he’s going to be really aggressive blocking. That could have been a simple message. It then allows me to say to myself, ‘Who do I wanna race?’ 



“It’s not race manipulation if I’m trying to get the best result for me. I got no allegiance to Ford, Chevy, Joey, or Ross, but I have interest in myself winning a championship.”



Most would argue that given the choice, Hamlin would rather race against Chastain than Logano going forward in the playoffs. Logano is a three-time Cup champion and winner of two of the last three championships. Hamlin said it wouldn’t have been as cut and dry. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-denny-hamlin-reveals-last-lap-strategy-had-he-known-points-situation-between-ross-chastain-joey-logano">Denny Hamlin reveals last lap strategy had he known points situation between Ross Chastain, Joey Logano</h2>



“You can argue which one you would want to race,” Hamlin said. “I think that I still go out there and try to pass the 1 because I think the 1 has a better shot of getting to Phoenix. I think the 22 has the better shot of winning Phoenix. So, I can’t win Phoenix unless I get there first. It’s not a given that I want to race Ross over Joey. Ross would have a better shot of keeping me of getting to Phoenix than Joey would, in my opinion, on pace. I look at the tracks, I say yes, Joey has been strong on superspeedways. Look at the numbers, he’s finished inside the top 20 one time in the Next Gen era. It’s not a given. They both have the same amount of playoff points. 



“So, had I known, I probably would have thought about it, and 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 want to advance? And I thought the same thing, ‘Well, the devil you know or the devil you don’t. One could make my path to Phoenix harder, one could make the Phoenix race harder.’ That’s the balance you just don’t know. But I know for sure that had I known and had I made the decision don’t pass the 1, do you know how bad I would kick myself in the ass if the 1 kept me out of the final four? My mental would be gone.”



Logano got the final transfer spot over Chastain, who tried to pass Hamlin on the final corner but ended up taking both of them out. Hamlin didn’t fault Chastain for the aggressive move on the final lap. 



“I don’t fault Ross at all,” Hamlin said after the race. “I just wish I knew so I could have been either prepared or made a different decision. I didn’t even hear anything from the spotter about, like, closing or anything. “I didn’t know anything about anything going on. Obviously, the 1 was in a position there, and, obviously, we got caught in it.”

Denny Hamlin

NASCAR

5GOATs

Denny Hamlin explains why easing off Ross Chastain at Charlotte wouldn't be 'race manipulation'

team image

Pro News

NFL News

NFL Draft News

NBA News

NBA Draft News

Culture

Sports Betting

About

Football

Basketball

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

Alabama

Arizona State

Arizona

Arkansas

Auburn

Baylor

Boston College

California

Removed

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Florida

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kentucky

Lettermen Row

Lettermen Lounge

Louisville

Maryland

Miami

Michigan State

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

NC State

Nebraska

North Carolina

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

The Main Board

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rutgers

South Carolina

Stanford

Syracuse

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas

Texas Tech

UCLA

Utah

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

West Virginia

Wisconsin

BamaOnLine

BOL Round Table

Inside Texas

IT Members Only

DawgsHQ

Dawg Walk

Scoop Duck

Recruiting & Sports

AuburnSports

The Corner

WeAreSC

GarryP's Trojan Huddle

The Wolverine

The Fort

The Lions Den

The Wolfpacker

The Wolves’ Den

GatorsOnline

Swamp Talk

Alabama A&M

Alabama State

Albany

Alcorn State

Abilene Christian

Appalachian State

Akron

Army

Austin Peay

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Arkansas-Little Rock

Arkansas State

Air Force

Ball State

American

Wofford

Winthrop

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin-Green Bay

Wichita State

Western Carolina

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Men's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

Women's Track

Men's Golf

Women's Golf

Men's Hockey

Women's Hockey

Men's Swimming

Women's Swimming

Wrestling

Men's Tennis

Women's Tennis

Annual $1

Annual Premium

Annual $1 

Monthly

Annual

Unlimited Access to This and All Articles.

Article (On3 Plus Rivals)

Forum (On3 Plus Rivals)

Intro

Join

College scoop, experts, and community - all in one.

Winback

New court date set

Charles Bediako case

Confusion on who pays

Player Buyouts

Power struggle over CFP format

B1G-SEC

Dives into Alabama rivalry

Alex Golesh

Calls out coaches for Bediako

Jay Bilas