Denny Hamlin 'got too greedy' racing Bubba Wallace before spinning at Michigan

The first stage of the NASCAR FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan was going well for Denny Hamlin, that is until it wasn’t. Hamlin found himself being the cause of the first caution flag as he spun around and took a slide through the infield grass.

Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin put on a great battle. It might have cost them their tires and the lead to Bubba Wallace, but it was an awesome show for fans. These frenemies are always good to put on a show when they get near one another on the track.

Once Wallace blew by the two drivers, Larson backed off. This allowed Hamlin to race back up to the back bumper of Wallace. Hamlin noticed that the 23 wasn’t great coming out of Turn 4, so he tried to make a move.

One second later, he’s in a bad aero spot and his car is pushed around, sliding into the grass.

Denny Hamlin explained what happened on his Actions Detrimental podcast.

“God I hate me sometimes. F***! Yeah, I just uh, I got too greedy. Trying to do this whole regular season thing and damn points racing, and I’m trying to win the stage because that’s at least one point I can leave the weekend with. Me and Larson were putting on quite an exhibition there and just let the 23 blow right by us on the straightaway. So, if you were wondering, ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ We were just playing games, you know, trying to position ourselves to try to get the surge into the corner and we just slowed down too much and let the 23 go right by us.

“At that point, we still run side-by-side through one and two and down the backstretch and I think finally Kyle was like, ‘Okay, we’re killing each other here, I’m gonna back off and let’s go try to make another run at this.’ Then I ran back to the 23 I saw he was struggling when he was out front with his balance and I’m like, ‘Alright, I’m going to get him, real quick.’ I just got too much, got too greedy. My car was so good to start the race, I’m like, man I can go anywhere. I never usually go pretty high, pretty early in a race, kinda push the resin up. But my car was so good, so comfortable, and so fast, I felt comfortable anywhere I took it. Unfortunately, just demolished the bottom side of it.”

Denny Hamlin managed to finish P9 in the end. Given the damage to his car, it was an impressive run. Those moments will help him the most when it comes to the regular season championship.

Minimizing mistakes is a big deal. Hamlin knows that. He let Michigan get away from him, that happens. Moving forward, in the next two races, those mistakes will not be acceptable. Daytona and Darlington. That is all that is left. Will Denny Hamlin win the regular season?