Denny Hamlin reveals why he wasn't more aggressive racing for lead with Chase Elliott at Bowman Gray

Denny Hamlin was hoping to start 2025 off with a bang, finding Victory Lane at the end of The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium over the weekend, but Chase Elliott got by the No. 11 and never looked back.

After the dust settled on the NASCAR Cup Series exhibition, Hamlin tried to make sense of his strategy that allowed Elliott to pass him and drive away. Evidently, the veteran tried to get by Elliott without being too aggressive, but it was the wrong move in hindsight.

“That was kind of one of the pivotal things that happened to me, once I lost the lead. When Chase got around me, I spent five laps really trying to get it back,” Hamlin stated, via the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. “I should have, in hindsight — I was like, I should have just kind of moved him out of the way, like he moved me out of the way, but I was like, I don’t know.

“I just thought, ‘It’s all right, I’m good enough — I’m good enough to get them the natural way,’ but I wasn’t. And then once I sat back there, I just — I lost the grip in the car, and those guys just pulled away.”

All told, if there was a time to be aggressive, Hamlin recognizes The Clash would’ve been perfect. He just didn’t have it on Sunday, and that’s what led to the No. 11 wheelman having to be alright with missing out on the win.

“I don’t think so. I mean, I think if there’s any time to be aggressive, it’s Bowman Gray,” Hamlin added. “You actually heard Chase in his post-race like, ‘Yeah, I was behind Denny and I knocked him out of the way, and I knew that that was — I needed to get back control of the race, and if he chose to knock me back out of the way, then that was going to be — I was going to have to live with that.’

“But I just had to take my shot then. I was like — I went into the next corner, I’m like, ‘It’s so cliché to just run back into him. I’m not going to do that.’ So I didn’t, and I was like,’ I’m just going to work him, I’m going to work him for a little while,’ and I just didn’t have it.”

Alas, it’s obvious Denny Hamlin has a bit of regret for how things unfolded during The Clash over the weekend. Perhaps next time he’s racing for the win he’ll be his usual aggressive self, but this one slipped through his fingertips at Bowman Gray.