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Denny Hamlin fed up, responds to NASCAR insider after Daytona 500: 'I've had enough'

Nick Profile Picby:Nick Geddes•02/17/25•

NickGeddesNews

Denny Hamlin
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Denny Hamlin appears to have reached his boiling point with NASCAR and the current state of racing.

Hamlin, who finished 24th in Sunday’s 67th running of the Daytona 500, sat down Monday to record the latest episode of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic listened to Hamlin’s opening monologue and said on X that Hamlin was “on fire.” Gluck tagged Hamlin in the post, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver chimed in.

Hamlin had plenty to say in the aftermath of the Daytona 500, in which he was out front during the last lap of overtime. How did Hamlin go from leading on the back straightaway to finishing 24th? Enter Cole Custer, who went to the outside of Hamlin coming off Turn 2. Custer made contact with Hamlin, sparking a multi-car wreck. The seas parted for William Byron, who made his way through the carnage to win his second consecutive Daytona 500.

Denny Hamlin blames Cole Custer for last-lap wreck that gave William Byron Daytona 500 win

Hamlin had a conversation with Custer on pit road. Speaking with FOX Sports after the race, Hamlin said he felt Custer “steered left and was trying to crowd it.”

“I measured up the 2 [Austin Cindric], and got a run on him,” Hamlin said. “I stayed with him long enough where I could kind of control which side I wanted to pass him on, and then we had pulled away from the pack slightly, so I knew a run was going to come. The 41 [Custer] had a run, and I chose not to block him, because these races, you have to live to make it off of Turn 4, and we just didn’t.

“I thought the [Custer] came down. I’m pushing [Cindric] down as low as I can to give him all of the space, and not stopping his run, and I thought he, not hung a left, but steered left and was trying to crowd it. I understand what he was trying to go for — he’s going for it, all of us are — but you know, in those situations, you’ve gotta do it off of [Turn] 4. Then we can we do this. But we never made it — and someone else won. I don’t even know where he was running.”