Denny Hamlin sums up 'incredible' heated finish with Bubba Wallace at Kansas, reveals what he hates about it

One of the more exciting finishes of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season took place over the weekend at Kansas. Denny Hamlin moved Bubba Wallace up the track in the final moments of the race, but Chase Elliott came from out of nowhere to ensure neither Toyota would make it to Victory Lane.

Of course, there’s layers to what happened — Hamlin is the co-owner of 23XI Racing — the team that owns Wallace’s ride. But when he gets inside the No. 11 Toyota on Sundays, he’s a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing.

That had many questioning Hamlin’s motives at Kansas, and why he raced Wallace the way he did. On the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin used his platform to sum up his thoughts on the finish, and why he raced Wallace the way he did.

“I thought we had an incredible finish. I hate that we didn’t win, and then my second hate is that the No. 23 car didn’t win,” Hamlin stated. “But man, it was an exciting fricking race, and that was two competitors going for it. Bubba knew it meant a lot to him. I knew it meant a lot to me.

“You asked me, ‘What are you going to feel comfortable going into the Roval with, points-wise?’ I said, 40. I need 40. Because anything less than 40 — a mechanical failure — you’re in big trouble. By the way, that was not a motivational factor of, ‘Well, if I don’t win, I want to make sure Bubba wins.’ That is absolutely silly. I’m trying to win for me first.

“I tried to make the move I made to win. I raced hard. I never, ever want to be accused of racing with bias. This should certainly silence that. But I mean, we had a great finish — something I hope the fans can be happy about. We had a fantastic Kansas race. I don’t know what the question is, but I just hate we didn’t win.”

Regardless, Hamlin’s apologies have fallen on deaf ears from Wallace — he was -27 below the cutline entering the race, and a win would’ve locked him into the Round of 8. Now, he’s still -26 after a fifth place finish at Kansas.

“To even have a shot at the win with the way we started… we were not good,” Wallace said, following the race. “I really appreciate the team. Two years ago, I would say something dumb, [Hamlin] is a dumbass for that move, for sure. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we were going for the win.”

It remains to be seen if there’s any bad blood between Hamlin and Wallace, or if they let bygones be bygones. No matter what, Hamlin was a bit regretful neither Toyota got the win, but he’s not going to change his racing style in the future, that’s for sure.