Denny Hamlin reacts to confusing checkered flag situation in Rolex 24 at Daytona

Denny Hamlin was as confused as the rest of the racing world with last weekend’s wonky finish during the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

At the end of the event, the white flag was shown with less than 3 minutes to go. Then, the checkered flag came out with about one minute and 35 seconds on the clock. In other words, the race ended a lap too soon due to human error.

Still, none of the races looked like they were going to come down to a photo finish. Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske GTP had a comfortable lead on Tom Blomqvist in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering car.

Regardless, it was a surprising twist at the end of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, one that left Hamlin just as confused as the rest of us watching the event.

“On TV they were telling us the whole time, ‘There’s two to go,’ right? So they’re coming off NASCAR Turn 4 and I’m thinking — listen, it didn’t affect the outcome,” Hamlin stated, via his Actions Detrimental podcast. “All the finishes were spread — first and second were spread quite a bit.

“But you would think, on the trigger-finger, if it’s close, you’ve got to err on anything, it’s too long and not too short.”

That’s a good point from Hamlin. You’d definitely rather the flag-stand wait a lap too long than pull the checkered out a lap too early as a fan. The leader might not like it, but the rest of the field certainly would.

Alas, NASCAR will look to avoid any similar controversy over their biggest race of the season in the Daytona 500 when the time comes, as Denny Hamlin looks to add another trophy to his collection.

Porsche Penske wins IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona

Moreover, the Rolex 24 at Daytona is a great event. It’s historic, requires incredible endurance, and a great display of sports car racing. While it is always exciting to see which team wins at the end of the 24 hours, this year was a little more special. 

Like seeing Ferrari win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, seeing Penske take the win at Daytona was a long time coming. The fact that Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden was part of the team makes it even more cool for fans. 

This year was a record crowd at the Rolex 24. Racing is in good hands right now in America and it seems to be growing in popularity once again. If all of those people are going to turn out to the IMSA season-opener, then we can bet they are going to show up for NASCAR. 

Speaking of NASCAR, this weekend is Busch Light Clash race weekend. It is an exhibition, but it means that the season is officially here. Two weeks to Daytona and then we are in it full-time from February to November. Before we know it, we’ll be talking about the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona. Time marches on.

On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.