Denny Hamlin reacts to Joey Logano's risky fuel decision that paid off at Las Vegas

Denny Hamlin was among the many impressed with Joey Logano and the No. 22 team’s risky fuel decision that paid off in a massive way at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion utilized a risky fuel strategy to secure a victory in Sin City, locking himself into the Championship 4. During the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin reacted to the move, heaping praise on the No. 22 team and Logano’s ability to throw caution to the wind in making a season-defining decision.

“There was an opportunity, and we knew when that caution fell right before the fuel window, we knew that like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be tight for someone, and someone’s gonna try this,’ and certainly, you know, the No. 22 team, and typically, the Fords themselves, get pretty good fuel mileage, so they were going to be the first ones that tried to make it happen, and truthfully, the No. 22 is in a, you know, all or nothing situation,” Hamlin explained. “Like, while he still had a good day, I think in Stage 1, he got three points. Stage 2, I’m not sure. He was like +7 at the time of that decision. Again, he’s on house money. He got a phone call that got him in the playoffs last week. So, we heard him stay publicly that, ‘Man, this is house money. Now, we can just go for it,’ nd they found an opportunity.

“That caution fell at just the right time for that team to say, ‘Okay, you gave us an opportunity to go for it. Now, here we go,’ and so, the timing worked out perfect. They made it happen.”

Ironically, Joey Logano won in a similar fashion at Nashville, which locked him into the playoffs earlier this summer. While the No. 22 team hasn’t exactly been a wagon in 2024, they’ve played their cards right, and they can call themselves champions if they get the job done one more time in three weeks in Phoenix.

Joey Logano reacts to unpredictable week leading up to Championship 4 berth

While some may call Joey Logano lucky, he believes he’s blessed to simply be in the situation he’s in, as he took some time to reflect on clinching his spot in the Championship 4 following his victory at Las Vegas.

“I don’t know, I’m just blessed to be in this situation that we’re in, right?” Joey Logano said in his winner’s press conference, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “We were good enough last week to be the next guy to get in, the next team to get in and we were good enough to do that and you know, today we were able to – my wife, I talked to her in victory lane, she was like, ‘Do you believe like one week ago at like this hour, I come walking out of our bedroom and I said, you’re not going to believe this s**t.’ You know what I mean, like you wouldn’t believe it. And here we are a week later, I told her, you ain’t going to believe this, that we won this one. 

“So, so excited about the opportunity ahead of us, right? Our focus now is move forward to Phoenix.”

There is no guarantee that Joey Logano is going to win the championship, even thought he’s done it twice, but the fact he’s going to a record sixth Championship 4 is massive, and a reflection of his ability to handle adversity in 2024.

On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.