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Denny Hamlin spin triggers first wreck of Daytona 500, taking out Zane Smith and Josh Berry

JHby:Jonathan Howard•02/16/25•

Jondean25

Denny Hamlin spin Daytona 500
Screenshot credit: NASCAR on FOX via X.com

A small hiccup for Denny Hamlin. He was pushed down onto the apron and that caused two other cars to end up wrecking. Zane Smith and Josh Berry got the worst of this incident with the NASCAR veteran, Hamlin, losing control of his car.

The Daytona 500 had two red flag delays but we are now racing. Just as the end of Stage 1 was approaching, Denny Hamlin found himself under the double yellow line and on the apron.

That is a spot no driver wants to find themselves. Daytona’s apron will suck you down onto the flat and then spit you back up the track. It is impressive that Hamlin didn’t end up in the outside wall.

Denny Hamlin goes down after a little contact from Zane Smith. Smith tries to collect his car and not hit Hamlin. Well, he succeeded in that. However, he ended up hitting Josh Berry, causing damage to the 38 and the 21 cars.

After a close call, Hamlin got out of this just fine. The same can’t be said for Smith and Berry. Tough break for those drivers early in the Daytona 500.

Good news for Smith and Berry is that there is a new Damaged Vehicle Policy. Those teams will be able to work on their cars in the pits for seven minutes. Then they can go make further repairs in the garage if needed. Neither of these teams is out of the race unless the damage ends up being too much to overcome.

Denny Hamlin avoids disaster after Stage 1 mistake

No doubt about it, Denny Hamlin is lucky to be in this race. That spin on the apron took out multiple other cars this weekend. Trucks, Xfinity, and ARCA all had at least one example of a car losing it on the apron and paying for it dearly.

Had it not been for the light touch from Smith’s front bumper to Hamlin’s rear bumper, both may have made it out of that incident with minimal damage. Smith just didn’t have the same luck controlling the car once it got away from him.

The name of the game is to make it to the last few laps. If you can do that, then you have a chance to win the Daytona 500. Can’t win it from the garage.

In his quest for a fourth Daytona 500 victory, tying Cale Yarborough, Denny Hamlin is off to a shaky start. He is going to have to avoid any more trouble the rest of the way if he hopes to accomplish that.