NASCAR insiders react to Denny Hamlin post-race comments, Joey Logano team fearing race manipulation

In the post-race interviews after the Roval finish, Denny Hamlin had some interesting comments about how it all played out. The NASCAR Playoffs forced Ross Chastain to make a move out of desperation, and it did not work. But Hamlin wasn’t upset at all.

In fact, post-race comments from Denny Hamlin seemed to indicate that he wished he knew the points situation between Ross Chastain and Joey Logano. Had he done that, Hamlin says he would have done what was “best” for him. Read into that what you will.

Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic broke down the drama after the race. The two motorsports reporters were split on what Hamlin meant by his comments.

“So, let’s start with this, there is a bunch of cars with new tires that were catching Chastain, and they blew by him,” Bianchi said on The Teardown. “The 11 was clipping off fast laps and got to the 1 and looked like they were gonna blow by them. Then the 11, I haven’t looked the time times, this is me telling you what other people said, Paul Wolfe. The 11, Hamlin, slowed down and seemed to back off from wanting to pass the 1. Okay?

“And on the radio of the 22, you could hear radio transmission going, ‘He’s not going to pass him, he’s not going to pass him! This is race manipulation!’ Paul Woflfe said this after the race. I asked him about it. I said, ‘Did you think this?’ He said, ‘He obviously didn’t want to pass him. They’re scared of us. Like, literally. They do not want us to advance, they’re scared of us.’ So, the thought was, did Denny really back off to let Ross Chastain go forward because he wants Chastain to go on, not Logano?”

What did Denny Hamlin mean by ‘best’ for him?

One would think that Denny Hamlin would prefer to race Ross Chastain. Joey Logano is so good at Las Vegas. And if he gets to Phoenix, he is arguably the championship favorite.

Still, Jeff Gluck felt like Denny could have been referring to something else. So, which is it?

“Well, again, I’m a little bit murky on that because what’s also best for him, because he referenced either on TV or in the scrum interview that one of the media members posted, that he was trying to get a better qualifying metric, and that’s what he was racing so hard for,” Gluck said. “So, this costs him, see, he probably would have finished 18th, I believe. Yes, he would have finished 18th, and he finished 23rd.

“So, that cost him five spots, I guess, being taken out. So, is he saying, what would have been best for him would is not being taken out and finishing five spots higher to help his cause, is that what’s best for him? Or is he saying what’s best for me is Logano not being in it. … Somebody said, well, Logano, and he said, well, the 1 has more speed than the 22.”

While Ross Chastain has more speed, Joey Logano has three championships. He also has two wins at Las Vegas in the fall the last three seasons. He is as dangerous as ever going into this weekend, and Denny Hamlin knows it.