Denny Hamlin reveals move from Christopher Bell that surprised him during finish at Daytona
Thanks to being wrecked out of the Daytona race in Stage 2 last week, Denny Hamlin had a clear view of the wild finish. The NASCAR veteran watched as Harrison Burton won and pushed his own 23XI driver, Bubba Wallace, out of the playoff picture.
Denny Hamlin went from driver to owner and fan quickly at Daytona. Once his No. 11 team was out of the race, he had eyes on Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. While things didn’t end well for his drivers, there were things Hamlin noticed.
Christopher Bell made a shocking move, at least from Hamlin’s perspective, during the final restart. He broke down what he saw on Actions Detrimental this week.
“I was very actually surprised from C-Bell that he didn’t move up in front of the top line. I thought there was a moment there when I was watching where he had stuck behind Kyle but they, the two of them, actually cleared the high line. My perspective is, any time you can be the lead car of a line, doesn’t matter inside or low, you take it.
“So, I thought that when he chose to stay behind the 8 and not move in front of Harrison, that was a big, big moment because at that point, now it’s going to be between whoever the leader is at the top versus whoever the leader is at the bottom. I think that was certainly a defining moment for sure. I thought it was over, Kyle Busch was going to cruise to this victory until the last lap where Harrison gets this huge run from Parker.”
Denny Hamlin watched as Bubba Wallace got bumped
Had Bell taken the top line, Burton would have been forced to look elsewhere. Instead, it was left up to a drag race between the two line leaders. Given how strong the run was from Retzlaff, Busch had no shot at catching Burton at the end.
Denny Hamlin watched as Bubba Wallace was bumped from the playoff picture. With the points bubble being so fragile this late in the season, every moment matters. Burton being in the playoffs puts the 23 team in a tough spot.
Wallace is 21 points down to Chris Buescher for the 16th and final spot in the playoffs. Ross Chastain is six points back from Wallace. So, it’s a tight battle for that final position. Darlington is unforgiving and will test these drivers on Sunday.
Last week, Denny Hamlin watched helplessly as his driver was knocked off the cutline. This week, Hamlin hopes that he ends the weekend with Reddick as regular season champion. He also hopes to have Wallace in the playoffs, and maybe even a Southern 500 victory for himself.