Denny Hamlin shades NASCAR for not throwing caution flag amid last-lap wrecks at Daytona

NASCAR star Denny Hamlin hoped the caution flag would come out during the final lap of the Daytona 500. While speaking to reporters after the race, Hamlin shared his reaction to the race finishing under the green flag despite him being involved in a wreck.

“I need to see the other wrecks, but I knew they were wrecking,” Hamlin said, per Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “We were surprised we kept going. Once I realized that they were not going to throw the yellow, all I focused on then was let me get a run on this 2 (Austin Cindric) and get beside him and win this race. Apparently, I think they went green all the way to the checkered. I was destroyed.”

Hamlin then predicted NASCAR’s next move following the incident. “They’ll react. When they feel like they get trashed socially on a call, then they’ll go the other way on the next one,” Hamlin said. “Either way, we weren’t going to win, so I don’t care.”

Hamlin was involved in a wreck as he was battling with Austin Cindric for the lead in overtime. With no caution issued by NASCAR, Hamlin missed out on earning his fourth win at “The Great American Race.”

Denny Hamlin sounds off on his wreck at the Daytona 500

When speaking to FOX Sports after the Daytona 500, Hamlin blamed Cole Custer for the wreck. “We didn’t have the caution on the first front straightaway spin, and I was like ‘Well, that’s the second lease on life to try to get the 2.’ So I measured up the 2, got a run on him, and stayed with him enough to where I could kinda control what side I wanted to pass him on. And then we had pulled away from the pack slightly, so I knew a run was gonna come,” Hamlin said.

“The 41 had the run and I chose not to block him. In these races, you gotta live to make it off of turn 4 and we just didn’t. I thought that the 41 came down. I’m pushing the 2 down as low as I can, giving the 41 all the space and not stopping his run. I thought he steered left and was trying to crowd it. I understand everyone’s trying to go for it, and he’s going for it. All of us are. But in those situations, we gotta get off of 4, then we can do this. But we just never made it and someone else won.”