Denny Hamlin reacts to being blamed for massive wreck that took out half of NASCAR field at Atlanta

A 23-car wreck during Stage 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta changed everything. Did Denny Hamlin cause it? The Joe Gibbs Racing driver weighed that question this week on his podcast.

So many cars were taken out of the race or had damage from this wreck. A lot of teams tried their best to make repairs in the garage, very few returned. It was a mess.

In the draft, it is hard to say who is to blame for what at times. But even Denny Hamlin thinks that this one…miiiiight be his fault.

“Listen, I watched the replay a few times. Maybe it was my fault?” Hamlin said on Actions Detrimental.

Denny Hamlin is usually a guy who doesn’t take the blame. At least, it can seem that way. However, he really tried to approach this one from an unbiased perspective.

“Because I want to be fair and honest on this podcast, and I’m looking at it, and I thought at the very beginning I was like, ‘What the hell, somebody in front of me zigged and zagged,’ and I said this on my interview, ‘These guys were tail wagging and I was just pushing as I normally do.’

“Spotter tells me they’re locked on in front, that tells me I’m able to continue to push, everything is kind of good to go, and yeah. I was the end of the snake tail that lost control. But it looked like I knocked the 42 kind of out of control. Maybe it’s on me.”

Either way, 23 cars were caught up in the wreck. It doesn’t matter how it started, but the results mattered quite a bit on Saturday night.

Denny Hamlin eliminated from tournament challenge

Despite being the top seed in the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Tournament Challenge, Denny Hamlin is out. One and done. Not in a good way, either. With a wrecked car, Hamlin watched as Ty Dillon finished P8 to knock him out of the bracket challenge.

Hamlin wasn’t the only big name knocked out of the tournament. William Byron, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, and more are also out. Not ideal, but also very interesting. Chase Elliott is the only driver with a win left in the 16-car field.

Hamlin is going to do his best to get good finishes in these next two weeks. He doesn’t expect to win at Chicago or Sonoma. But when Dover comes around, I expect Hamlin to be back in the mix or the win. Hamlin also has a Brickyard 400 to win to complete his collection of crown jewels.

Out of the tournament, but not out of the championship hunt. Hamlin will be in a good position going into the playoffs.