Denny Hamlin addresses complete lack of information before fateful Ross Chastain incident: ‘Absolutely no clue whatsoever’

Denny Hamlin didn’t get any information about Ross Chastain‘s position before the incident at Charlotte on Sunday. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin discussed the lack of communication between him and his team during the final laps of the playoff race.

“We just didn’t say much all day,” Denny Hamlin said. “When I came out with like 15 to go after my last pit stop, there really weren’t many cars around me, and there wasn’t really many cars behind me. I’m like, ‘Oh man. We’re like we got to be like 32nd.’ I don’t even know where we’re at in the field.

“I run, and I run, and I run. I’m like, I’m not catching anyone. Suddenly, the 1 (Ross Chastain), you can see he’s slow. He’s fighting his car and whatnot. At that point, again, I have no idea. Never did I get any update on what position we’re in, never did I get an update on the points, anything. At that point, I think this is another spot I got to gain. I don’t know where the 22 (Joey Logano) was. I didn’t know if the 22 was 10 spots in me or 10 spots behind. Absolutely no clue whatsoever.”

More on the Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain incident at Charlotte

Because Hamlin didn’t have any information on what was going on with Chastain and Logano, he was surprised when Chastain hit him during the final lap. At that point of the race, Hamlin passed Chastain, which led to Logano getting ahead of Chastain in the playoff standings. In a Hail Mary-type move, Chastain hit Hamlin to try to get ahead of Logano in the standings and advance to the Round of 8. That didn’t work as Logano did enough to hold on to the final spot in the next round of the playoffs.

One reason Hamlin’s team likely didn’t say a lot to him during the Charlotte Roval was the fact that they already clinched a spot in the next round. As the Round of 8 begins, Hamlin is on top of the playoff standings and eight points ahead of the cut line. He would love to win one of the next three races to not only clinch a spot in the championship race, but also earn his 60th Cup Series race victory.