Denny Hamlin weighed in on the ongoing debate about Connor Zilisch's recent win at Portland International Speedway. The veteran driver broke down Zilisch's move and explained how he exploited NASCAR's rulebook without drawing any consequences.Zilisch's win became a point of contention since he cut through Turn 1 during the final overtime restart. NASCAR's self-penalizing system at road courses allows a driver to cut a chicane if they can drive through a designated run-off lane, but the manuever didn't result in much of a timeloss at Portland.During a restart with seven laps to go, Zilisch cut the A-frame since he was in a tight spot, and the move was deemed appropriate at the time. However, when the JR Motorsports ace was leading the overtime restart, he intentionally took the shortcut and kept his lead intact.On a recent episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin discussed the controversial move and said (via X/Dirty Mo Media),"I guess the uproar is right is that they feel he didn't even attempt to make the first corner. He had it in his mind the entire time that I'm just gonna go ahead and blow this, run that chicane and see where I net out.""So that does two things for him, one, they figure that, well, it's really not that big of a time loss, and two, it would be 'Well, now I'm going to avoid the corner where the incidents happen the most often'. So you take yourself out of the opportunity of getting wrecked," Denny Hamlin added.Denny Hamlin also mentioned how many teams practiced taking the shortcut during practice, further underscoring NASCAR's loophole. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace's spotter, Freddie Kraft, threw shade at Connor Zilisch for not making Turn 1, and the JRM driver responed in kind.Denny Hamlin breaks down his playoff weaknessAhead of the playoff opener at Darlignton Raceway, Denny Hamlin outlined his strengths and weaknesses. The Joe Gibbs Racing ace remained confident about his chances at conventional ovals, noting how the No.11 team has been consistently up front.However, he was also worried about getting wrecked at Talladega."The challenge will be obviously Talladega. I don’t think I’ve avoided a superspeedway wreck in about 10 years now – or it feels that way. And then, what happens at the Roval, right? There’re so many different strategies and stuff that can happen," he said via NBC Sports.The last time Denny Hamlin won at Talladega was back in October 2020. He has grabbed multiple poles since then, but has failed to reach victory lane despite his best efforts.Nonetheless, Hamlin currently ranks second in the playoff standings with 43 points above the cutline. He now heads to World Wide Technology Raceway, a track where he finished second in his last two outings. The race is scheduled for Sunday, September 7 at 3 PM ET.