Analysis: Why Denny Hamlin is Defending Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Over Daytona Final-Lap Clash

The closing moments of the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway delivered its trademark high-stakes drama, culminating in a chaotic final lap that left some drivers celebrating and others fuming. Among the most frustrated was Ryan Blaney, whose race ended in the wall after contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

While Blaney spared no feelings over his team radio, veteran driver Denny Hamlin has offered a different perspective on the incident, urging fans and analysts to look closer at the physics of superspeedway racing before laying all the blame on Stenhouse.

The Final-Lap Incident

As the field scrambled through a late-race restart, a multi-car wreck initially thinned out the pack. In the frantic dash that followed, Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet made contact with Blaney’s No. 12 Ford down the backstretch, sending Blaney hard into the outside wall.

While Stenhouse escaped the melee to cross the finish line in fifth, Blaney was credited with a disappointing 33rd-place finish. Immediately following the impact, an angry Blaney vented his frustration to his crew chief over the team radio, criticizing Stenhouse's driving and accusing him of hooking his car at nearly 200 mph.

Hamlin Breaks Down the Tape

Analyzing the incident on his weekly podcast, Actions Detrimental, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin explained that the wreck was not a simple case of aggressive driving, but rather a chain reaction born of split-second decision-making.

"You have to do more investigative work to make it not look really weird," Hamlin explained, noting that multiple camera angles paint a different picture of the immediate moments preceding the crash.

According to Hamlin, Stenhouse's No. 47 had actually made slight contact with the No. 3 car of Austin Dillon just before colliding with Blaney. Hamlin suggested that Stenhouse was likely focused entirely on executing a side-drafting maneuver on Blaney and was unaware of the car tight on his inside quarter-panel.

"I'm telling you in those instances, these are split-second decisions," Hamlin said. "I guarantee you Ricky is only looking forward, looking at the side of the No. 12 and saying, 'I'm going to side draft him.' He doesn't know that there's a No. 3 car barely hanging on his quarter panel, so if he goes low, he's going to make contact."

While Hamlin acknowledged that Stenhouse's lateral movement ultimately triggered the wreck, he emphasized that Blaney was simply an innocent bystander in a standard superspeedway squeeze gone wrong.

Playoff Picture Remains Intact

Fortunately for Blaney, the late-race disaster did not derail his championship hopes. Despite dropping to 33rd in the official race results, he secured the second seed heading into the NASCAR postseason.

With Ryan Preece capturing a dramatic victory to secure his own playoff spot, the grid is now locked in for the postseason run, where both Blaney and Hamlin will look to put the Daytona drama behind them and focus on the battle for the Cup Series title.