Denny Hamlin spun around on Lap 64 during the Toyota Save Mart 350 on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. While it initially looked like Carson Hocevar spun Hamlin, looking at the replays, it was a domino effect that began with Alex Bowman hitting Brad Keselowski. The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing star recently came out and split the blame for his spin.
Denny Hamlin started the race inside the Top 5 and was effectively running in the Top 10 for the majority of the race before his spin, which derailed his progress. During the restart with 47 laps left, going into Turn 7, Hamlin spun around after Hocevar bumped the No. 11.
Looking back at the spin, it all started with Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Chevrolet bumping into Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 RFK Racing Ford, who then bumped Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet, and eventually Hamlin being on the receiving end of the domino effect.
Speaking on the Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin spread the blame for the crash across three drivers as he said,
“To me personally, it just seemed like the data is too messy to really lock in on one person. I know it’s easy to think there’s got to be someone to blame. I hear you, but I think it’s 33%-33%-33% of the No. 77, the No. 6, and the No. 48. They were all hitting each other. Nobody wanted to get off the bumper of the guy in front of you, and the guy way up there is the one that got spun.”
“What was disappointing is that they came from so far back. I’m four car lengths clear of these guys. What are they doing running into the back of me? Unless they’re just ping-ponging off each other, and they did. They just kept shoving. Unfortunately, I got the worst end of it,” Hamlin added
The No. 11 driver is battling Tyler Reddick for the regular season championship, and a strong result at Sonoma would’ve put him in a stronger position.
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Denny Hamlin hails NASCAR for getting rid of the ‘win, and you’re in’ rule
Ahead of the 2026 season, NASCAR confirmed the comeback of ‘the Chase’, replacing the ‘win and you’re in’ format to get into the playoffs. Denny Hamlin in the latest episode of Actions Detrimental highlighted how every driver is paying attention to the standings rather than just aiming for a win.
“Getting rid of the win and you’re in. Oh, maybe the biggest, best change ever, because now we know someone can’t just get lucky and pop one off from 24th in point. You got 26 races to prove yourself right and so one good or bad week should not be the indicator of whether you’re in or out like it’s no, you got a big old sample size,” said Hamlin
“Somebody from 30th is not gonna just get in and take your spot that you’ve been running 16th, you know for 25 weeks. And then on the 26 weeks, somebody 30th and points just knocks you out. That doesn’t seem fair to me. Without a doubt, we all care about our standings now more than ever. All these guys know that it’s over that ten-week period. You’ve got to start with as many points as you possibly can. I think the format they did just a great job with it,” Denny Hamlin added
With Reddick facing a steering wheel issue in the early stages of the race and going six laps down on the leaders, the P26 finish for Hamlin was enough to take the lead in the championship.
