The biggest story out of Sunday’s (Sept. 28) Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway came from the final two corners.
Denny Hamlin, racing for his 60th NASCAR Cup Series win, and Bubba Wallace, driving the car Hamlin co-owns, made contact in turn 3 while racing for the lead on the final lap. Wallace brushed the wall, and Hamlin drifted up the track just enough to allow Chase Elliott to sneak through on the bottom to victory.
Hefty criticism headed Hamlin’s way following the finish, as the contact knocked his own 23XI Racing car out of winning contention and allowed a rival manufacturer to win the race after Toyota restarted 1-2-3-4-5 with two laps to go.
But as Hamlin filmed his Monday (Sept. 29) Actions Detrimental podcast, he immediately made it clear that there was nothing for him to be remorseful about.
“If they’re wanting an apology, they can turn off now,” Hamlin said.
Why no apology?
“Because I’m racing for the win, and I definitely won’t apologize for racing for the win.”
And while Hamlin may be a co-owner of 23XI, that’s not the case on race day.
“On Sunday, I am the driver,” Hamlin explained. “The person in the No. 11 car is the driver. That’s where the disconnect comes from, is that people expect me to be a different person. They expect me to be the guy with a 23XI shirt on when I’m in the No. 11 car, and that’s just not possible.
“I was racing the No. 23 (Wallace) the same as I would race anybody in that moment. Truthfully, I would race my teammates the same way.”
Hamlin has been adamant since he became an owner in 2021 that he wouldn’t give preferential treatment to his cars, and that was well on display in Sunday’s race.
“My responsibilities as the team owner comes Monday through Saturday,” Hamlin continued. “It is not up to me to get 23XI into the Round of 8. It’s not my responsibility. My responsibility is to get the No. 11 into the Round of 8. I’m the driver on Sunday of that No. 11. Joe (Gibbs) pays me a lot of money to make sure that car wins a championship or has a shot to.”
Hamlin also noted that the somewhat “damned if you, damned if you don’t” situation he was faced with on Sunday, as he also would’ve been criticized if he had pulled over and allowed Wallace to win.
Furthermore, it was an intense overtime restart from the get-go. All the Toyotas were side drafting each other on the penultimate lap, and Hamlin recalled that it was a moment between Wallace and Christopher Bell out of turn 4 coming to the white flag that gave him a full head of steam and made him realize that he had a shot at the win himself.
Hamlin stated that the notion that the Toyotas “gave” the win to Chevy was “stupid,” as all five (Hamlin, Wallace, Bell, Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick) each had something to race for, whether it be a race win, an automatic advancement to the Round of 8 or maximizing the number of points earned on the day.
When faced with explaining the contact with Wallace in turn 3, Hamlin pulled up the race’s SMT data that showed he had entered and braked into turn 3 in the exact same spot each lap, and that he ran turn 3 no different on the final lap than he did throughout the race. But this time he had the No. 23 car at his side, and the car went straight instead of turning.
“I took what I thought was the best option, and that was drive into the corner the exact same as I always have,” Hamlin said. “But that was the closest that I ever was side-by-side with someone entering the corner. …
“I have no clue how close to me the No. 23 car is. And when I drive it into the same spot, I have no idea I’m about the enter the corner with no front downforce whatsoever.”
The one discrepancy from Hamlin’s side of the story is that he didn’t explain his spotter’s role in the finish and if he provided intel to what line Wallace was running into turn 3.
As for the post-race, Wallace showed his displeasure to Hamlin on the cooldown lap by flipping the bird. It was a gesture that Hamlin took zero issue with, as he felt that Wallace was only mad at the driver of the No. 11 car and wasn’t mad at the co-owner of the team he races for.
As any driver would, Hamlin tried serving as a “Monday morning quarterback” to see if there were any other paths to winning the race than the one he tried in real time. He ultimately came up with two:
“I think there’s only a couple ways to win it,” Hamlin explained. “I run lower on corner entry, even though my angle’s horrible, but I at least hit the bottom and create a gap between me and (Wallace). Or I need to let off sooner, count on him missing the corner, and then try to get it back on the exit.
“If I could do it again, I would like to try that. I’m not saying it would have been successful, but that’d be something I will psychoanalyze.”
Even then, Hamlin felt there wasn’t much more he could’ve done (or would’ve done) than what ended up actually happening on the racetrack.
“I wish I could say, “oh, I definitely would do this,’ but even now today — having hours to sleep on it — the decision I made in the matter of a split second is not that different than what I would do the next morning,” Hamlin stated. “I just wish the outcome was a little different.”
In the end, Hamlin’s biggest takeaway on Monday was the same one he had on Sunday: disappointment. Disappointment that he couldn’t get his coveted 60th win and disappointment that Wallace didn’t win if he was unable to win himself.
But the big winner of Sunday, other than Elliott, was the fans. They got treated to an exceptional race from the drop of the green flag and a finish where everyone raced for a win with no holding back.
“We had an incredible finish,” Hamlin said. “I hate that we didn’t win, and my second hate is that the No. 23 car didn’t win. But man, it was an exciting fricking race. And that was two competitors going for it.”
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf