Skip to main content
Join Now
NASCAR Logo

Denny Hamlin apologizes for role in Christopher Bell’s massive wreck at Talladega

JHby:Jonathan Howard•about 18 hours•

Jondean25

Denny Hamlin NASCAR Talladega
Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Right after the first caution of the day, Denny Hamlin caused another one by getting into the back of Christopher Bell. Coming down the backstretch, Bell was out front with Hamlin pushing him from behind. NASCAR at Talladega is doing Talladega things.

Cautions breed cautions, and we saw that in the first stage. Toyota pushed the pace early on and forced everyone’s hand. On the backstretch after the race went green again, Denny Hamlin went too far over the line. Pushed too hard.

Soon after Bell and Chris Buescher wrecked into the inside wall, Hamlin was on the radio. He apologized for his role in the wreck.

“What in the hell?” Hamlin said, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “We weren’t even up to speed yet.”

“Man…apologies if that’s on me. We weren’t even up to speed yet. I don’t know why that would have wrecked him. When he shot down to the bottom, I wasn’t even sure I was actually on him.”

Here is the wreck in question. Just a massive hit into the inside wall. Much like Connor Zilisch at the end of yesterday’s Xfinity Series race.

Talladega delivers on the speed and the hits. This race is going to get more interesting and we are going to see a few more wrecks today, at least, before we get to the end. It appears that teams are more willing to push the pace and take risks today instead of riding around all afternoon.

Denny Hamlin wants to avoid any other issues. He has a fast Toyota and is hoping to have it up front when the end of this race comes.

Denny Hamlin gets called out

After the wreck, Denny Hamlin kept on racing. However, Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell were not happy with how things ended. Bell more or less accepted it. Buescher did as well. But crew chief of the 17 team, Scott Graves, ripped into Hamlin.

“This team works so hard every week, had our driver in position for the end of stage 1, and the guys that would consider themselves some of the best drivers in the world can’t even get through a restart,” Graves wrote on X/Twitter. “I see why you have an insurance sponsor [Denny Hamlin], can I file a claim?”

Now that is a creative way to insult a rival driver. Progressive Insurance probably appreciates the plug, too. This 17 team will try to pick things up and head to Texas next week, looking for a win.

Denny Hamlin is going to try and make sure that wreck wasn’t for nothing. If he can manage to get the win today, then it makes it all worth it, right?