Denny Hamlin reacts to predictable Talladega playoff race, no ‘crazy wreck-fest’

Denny Hamlin provided some perspective on this past weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. He decided to break down the action and lack of “The Big One” on the episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast.

The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran said what fans saw was more of the same from NASCAR’s biggest track, at least in recent seasons. The Alabama superspeedway has evolved into a race shaped by fuel strategy, execution and a calm finish, rather than the typical chaos.

“Talladega was, um, I thought typical,” Hamlin stated. “I don’t know. I thought the end was predictable. I mean, if you looked over the last few Talladega races and kind of the track trends, it hasn’t been a crazy wreck fest like we’ve had before. You get one multi-car — four, five, maybe seven cars — and then it doesn’t happen again. [Buescher’s wreck] definitely could have been another one, but it turned out that was just one. But yeah, I thought it was a pretty typical Talladega race.

“A lot of fuel saving going on for a large chunk of the race. The reason we save fuel is we’re trying to make the pit stop under green as short as possible. We try to save fuel because track position doesn’t necessarily supersede fuel mileage. The answer would be no — because when the pack is only separated by a second and a half, someone that can save 10% more gas, that’s a couple of seconds on pit road. That can leapfrog you from being at the very tail to all the way at the front.

“Then there’s a lot of other factors that play into it as well — how good you get on and off pit road plays a factor, how clean you get in your pit box, all those things matter. But yeah, typically these races are mostly fuel mileage, mostly execution of how you do on pit lane. And then at the very end, it’s who can master — or guess right — on the lanes that are going to go at certain times.”

Continuing, Hamlin added that despite the predictable rhythm of the race, the finish still delivered plenty of intrigue and movement in the playoff picture. He watched as his teammate, Chase Briscoe, won and advanced to the Championship 4, joining him in Phoenix.

“I thought the end of the race was exciting and certainly saw a lot of storylines up there,” he added. “The Toyotas made a great run. They had their line going there at the end — I think leading with Bubba, Chase, and Ty.

“Those three together were really getting a line going and moving, and they found themselves at the front. The No. 19 of Chase Briscoe found himself up front at the end, winning the race and moving on to the Championship Four.”

With Briscoe’s victory, the playoff field has tightened heading into Martinsville, where the final two spots in the Championship 4 will be decided. Who will join Hamlin and his JGR teammate in Briscoe? It’s anyone’s guess, as the Cup Series turns to Virginia.