Denny Hamlin reacts to William Byron-Ryan Blaney battle at Martinsville, 'impressive' drive for championship spot

Denny Hamlin already clinched his spot in the Championship 4 ahead of this past weekend’s race at Martinsville. That gave him the chance to sit back and watch as William Byron and Ryan Blaney went head-to-head for a win, and a chance to race for the title at Phoenix.

Byron came out on top, and Hamlin didn’t hesitate to credit the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s effort: “Impressive. It’s all you can say about that drive,” Hamlin said, via his Actions Detrimental podcast. “I was certain when me and the two Penske cars flipped the stage and were in front of William, I thought they were never going to get back around Blaney. I thought they had given the race away. Not given it, but you know — they wanted to get the stage win, max points, just in case.

“At that point, I thought it was going to be a tall task to pass the No. 12, and he did it. Made a run. Was very patient that last run, waited on lap traffic, got him. 61-point day. Doesn’t get any better. Sat on the pole, led the most laps. I mean, just nearly a perfect week. It was a perfect weekend, essentially.

“… I thought William showed a ton of poise through the race. Even when he was leading, he was just patient. I thought it was one of William’s strongest performances as a driver. So yeah, they absolutely earned the spot. Took the spot. He’s going to race for a championship next week.”

Additionally, Hamlin had no problem with Byron using the bumper to get the job done against Blaney. The NASCAR veteran believes it was the kind of move Blaney would’ve made himself, and all is fair under this championship format.

“Blaney said it in his interview, ‘Yeah, I would have made that same move,’” Hamlin noted. “William was close enough to where, I mean, you can’t just sit behind these guys for too long. Your stuff gets hot, and then you just burn it up. So he was close enough to where William thought, ‘I’m going to dive into one, show him my nose.’ And at that time, it just so happens that the No. 12 was doing the same to a lap car.

“So, they were three-wide there. He heard Blaney say he tried to cover the space as much as he could, and tried to crowd him. Obviously, the No. 24 was there. It was a heck of a battle.”

Hamlin added that even with the late restart following Carson Hocevar’s caution, the No. 24’s speed was simply too much to overcome: “I thought that the 12 would get back to him at some point. But it just showed that the No. 24 was better. At that time, he had the best car and he got around him,” Hamlin said.

“Even on the restart there, there was a chance. They got restacked from the Carson Hocevar caution towards the end. I thought it was over at that point. I know you’re saying he got back to him on that restart, but the short-run speed of the Hendrick cars was — if you remember right, one qualified on the pole, the other one qualified 31st.

“So, I don’t think it was a fair fight as far as that’s concerned. Blaney made a charge on him in the last few laps, but William at that point was just trying to hit the bottom and not make any mistakes. I thought it was going to be a tough task. Unless the No. 12 got the actual jump on the restart and then held him down tightly, there was just no way. The speed of the Hendrick cars in the short run was just far superior.”

Alas, Byron’s victory secured his spot in the Championship 4, giving Hendrick Motorsports two shots at the Cup Series title in 2025. For Hamlin, he sees the win as Byron showing his team is peaking at the perfect time, believing it’s going to be tough to defeat them in the desert this weekend.