Denny Hamlin: Atlanta overtime caution 'was the right call'

Denny Hamlin said Monday that NASCAR made the “right call” throwing the caution on the final lap of Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta.

Hamlin, who has been critical of NASCAR for valuing entertainment above all else, was pleased to see the sanctioning body make a decision with the safety of its competitors in mind.

“It was the right call,” Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast. “Good call? Just depends on who you ask. If you ask the fans who want entertainment, no — it was not a good call in their eyes. But I can assure you there’s not a driver in the field that would want that race to stay green, given the scenarios that were going on.

“You keep these races green, and someone will end up getting hurt. There’s just too much opportunity and the drivers are way too vulnerable when they’re sitting in the racetrack and then cars have to go by them full speed to gain spots. That’s just not a good scenario for anyone. The race had to end under caution.”

Denny Hamlin applauds NASCAR for making ‘right call’ at Atlanta

On the last lap of Sunday’s race, it looked as if Christopher Bell, Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson were going to have a side-by-side-by-side drag race to the start/finish line. That is, until a multi-car crash behind them forced NASCAR to throw the caution flag. Bell was leading at the time the caution lights illuminated, making him the winner.

In the Xfinity race the day prior, NASCAR made a different decision in a near identical situation. As the leaders were racing to the checkered flag, a multi-car wreck was taking place behind them. NASCAR did not throw the caution, allowing the race to finish under green. The sanctioning body handled the final lap of the Daytona 500 the same way, not throwing the caution as the “Big One” took place down the back straightaway.

But during Sunday’s prerace meeting, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer admitted to the drivers they made a mistake with the ruling in the Xfinity race. Sawyer said that if a similar situation presented itself in the Cup race, the caution would be thrown. It did, and Sawyer stayed true to his word.

Hamlin hopes the latest decision is a starting point for better consistency from NASCAR.

“Let’s at least applaud them on making the right call for safety. Because safety should always be number one and entertainment should be number two. It sucks it ends this way, but we’re the ones that chose to wreck,” Hamlin said. “I think it was the right call and maybe this is a moment — let’s give NASCAR the benefit of the doubt that maybe they’re going to change their ways as far as let’s start a new trend of consistency starting now.”