Denny Hamlin recently opened up about the tense moment during the YellaWood 500 at Talladega when radio silence hinted at the looming disaster. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing team had faced a rough day on the track, but what seemed like “bad news” soon shifted into a surprising stroke of luck. After losing over 30 positions early in the race, Hamlin found himself deep in the pack, battling a series of misfortunes.
Starting from eighth, Hamlin’s race took a turn for the worse when a four-wide battle on Lap 3 sent him plummeting to 39th. His struggles continued into the second stage, where an incident between Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney had a cascading effect that damaged Hamlin’s #11 Toyota. By Lap 171, front-end damage from Blaney’s crash worsened, throwing off Hamlin’s steering and limiting his ability to draft effectively. Dropping to 32nd, things looked grim for the veteran driver.
Despite the damage and the setbacks, fortune turned when a massive 28-car pileup involving Brad Keselowski and Austin Cindric opened an opportunity. Hamlin, positioned a safe distance from the wreckage, navigated through the chaos, gaining 20 positions in the process. What seemed like a race-ending situation transformed into a top-10 finish, a result Hamlin credited to sheer luck.
Speaking to NASCAR post-race, Hamlin reflected on the radio silence during the final stage, describing it as an ominous sign. “Silence on the radio. I just assumed silence is bad news,” he said. The damage from the earlier crash had severely impacted the car’s performance, causing him to fall behind. “It was looking grim. And then all of a sudden, you know, I had some good luck.”
While Hamlin managed to salvage his race, Ryan Blaney wasn’t as fortunate. The #12 Team Penske driver, caught in the earlier crash with Bowman, saw his day end with a DNF after a “shi**y push” sent him into the wall, collecting Hamlin and Ross Chastain. Blaney, frustrated by the incident, voiced his anger, slamming Bowman for the reckless move.
Now, as Hamlin prepares for the Round of 12 finale, he holds a 30-point advantage, while Blaney, despite the wreck, sits with a 25-point cushion.
“Denny Hamlin Reveals the Quiet Tension Before Ryan Blaney’s ‘Bad News’ and His Surprising Turn of Fortune”
