Denny Hamlin: 'I have no idea' what Daniel Suàrez was doing in Talladega wreck

Denny Hamlin was at a loss for words regarding Daniel Suarez’s decision-making when trying to blend in with the pack after serving a pass-through penalty at Talladega over the weekend.

The No. 99 wheelman was going a lap down, and instead of letting the field pass him, Suarez tried to blend in with the pack before simply turning into the No. 78 of BJ McLeod. There was no way for McLeod to avoid Suarez, and it was miraculous a bigger wreck didn’t happen due to Suarez’s decision.

On the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin reacted to Suarez making what he believed to be a bone-headed move, as the incident could’ve been much, much worse, wondering if ulterior motives were at play.

“What the hell was he doing?” Hamlin said, regarding the No. 99. “You listen to the in-car and you’re thinking, ‘Well, maybe the spotter told him to get up.’ The spotter did not. I have no idea what Daniel was doing or thinking at that moment, because he was going so much slower than the pack. There was a two car gap between the last car to pass and then BJ [McLeod]. He thought that just turning right, right in front of BJ, was a good idea.

“Now, thinking about this, what it could have caused is a chain reaction, then caused a caution, and then he got his lap back. So, I’m wondering, the conspiracy theorist in me is like, ‘Was he trying to cause a caution to get his lap back?’ Like, create some chaos, right? Clearly, he wanted chaos, because he put himself right in the middle of the pack when they’re coming at him 20 miles an hour faster. He’s zigzagging, kind of, ‘Where am I gonna go? I’m gonna make you all think, am I gonna go high? Am I gonna go low?’ And then finally, the field splits them, and then they get behind him, they’re like, ‘This guy’s not going,’ they split him again.

“He’s going so slow that you’ve got to just take your lumps. You’re a lap down. You’re the only car a lap down. Just get to the end of the stage, you’ll be okay. Or the green flag pit cycle, there could be a caution there. But he takes an abrupt right, right into front of BJ, and there’s no way BJ could have reacted in time, given the difference in mile per hour, and he crashed himself. … Fortunately for the field, Daniel and his team were the ones that got the bad end of the stick. It very well could’ve screwed other people over by him, you know, making this chaotic move that just — that wasn’t, that’s not ideal, for sure, not at the speeds we’re going, and it was ill advised.”

While Hamlin understands Suarez was worried about potentially going down two laps if he lost the draft again, he believes the No. 99 could’ve caught on at the end of the pack and he would’ve been fine “Yeah, I mean, it’s a worry. You don’t want to go two down, for sure. But he was going to blend — there were enough cars lagging at the back of the pack that he was going to be able to blend in with some of them.

“Like, you know, not everyone was in the racing pack, the peloton, so you had enough stragglers in the back that he was going to be able to blend in and still stay one down.”

Alas, Daniel Suarez put the entire field in trouble at Talladega during Stage 1, and he certainly got the worst end of it. Denny Hamlin and the rest of his peers will have some trouble trusting him on the track moving forward after that performance.