$65M-worth Denny Hamlin calls out JGR teammate's decision to stay behind Kyle Busch at Daytona

Denny Hamlin has criticized Christopher Bell for choosing to follow Kyle Busch at Daytona last Saturday. Bell was trailing the #8 driver until the final lap of the overtime and finished the race in third place. Hamlin suggested that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver could have won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 if he had taken a different approach.

The race at Daytona International Speedway saw Harrison Burton claim his maiden Cup Series victory by holding off Kyle Busch to the finish line. The Richard Childress Racing, who desperately needed a win to secure his playoff spot, relentlessly pursued the Wood Brothers Racing driver until the end, but to no avail.

Interestingly, Hamlin believed that Bell had a prime opportunity to overtake both Burton and Busch after they moved to the high line. However, the JGR driver chose not to capitalize on this chance, and as a result, finished the race in third place.

Here's what Hamlin said in the Actions Detrimental podcast:

"I'm actually surprised from Christopher Bell that he didn't move up in front of the top line. I thought there was a moment there where I was watching he stuck behind Kyle but the two of them actually cleared the high line," $65 million worth (as per Celebrity Net Worth) driver said.

"My perspective is that anytime you can be the lead car, you take it and so I thought that when he chose to stay behind the 8 and not move up in front of Harrison, that was a big big moment... That was certainly a defining moment for sure," he added. (0:01-0:41)

Both Bell and Hamlin have qualified for the playoffs this season, as did Harrison Burton with the victory at Daytona. Burton's win marked the 100th Cup Series victory for Wood Brothers Racing. However, Busch once again failed to secure a win and secure a guaranteed playoff spot.

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"Look where I'm at now" - Denny Hamlin reflects on massive NASCAR penalty

Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Image via Getty)

Denny Hamlin recently addressed the significant penalty he received from NASCAR, which included a 75-point deduction in the regular season standings and a 10-point deduction from the playoffs.

The governing body imposed a penalty on Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing after discovering an issue during an engine teardown following Hamlin's Cup Series win at Bristol earlier this year. In the recent Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin said that Toyota Racing Development was responsible for the error.

"You can look at it and say, 'It's just a 10 point penalty.' But it isn't. Look where I'm at now. I'm 8th in points. I was battling for the regular season championship which would've paid 15 points and now the most I'm probably going to get is 3. Just a huge swing for us," the 43-year-old said.

Hamlin was competing for the regular season championship with Tyler Reddick prior to the penalty. However, as things stand, he is currently in eighth place with 722 points to his credit after 25 races. He is 111 points behind Reddick in the regular season and is placed sixth in the playoff standings.