“If I’m Byron, I’m sweating”: Denny Hamlin sounds the alarm for Hendrick star as Chase Elliott climbs the standings 

Denny Hamlin recently flagged Chase Elliott for closing in on NASCAR Cup points leader William Byron after last Saturday's Atlanta race (June 28).

Elliott ended a 44‑race winless streak with a last-lap pass on Brad Keselowski at EchoPark Speedway and moved to second in the standings behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Byron. The No. 9 Chevy driver now trails Byron by 37 points.

During the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin shared his concerns for Byron, who won the season opener Daytona 500 in February.

"Yeah. I would, if I'm Byron, I'm sweating now that the nine is the next in line just because I think he's steady and fast enough to really have to keep the 24 honest to not have really bad days," Denny Hamlin said (46:20 onwards).

"As an owner of cars near it, I was like, 'Yeah, let's go Chase," he added.

Hamlin further points out that Elliott, with six top-5 finishes before Atlanta, has shown consistent performance this season.

Byron, who finished 37th in Atlanta, was taken out in a massive multi-car crash. He was running in the top five before the Stage 2 wreck derailed his night and handed him his first DNF of the season. The crash also pulled Byron out of the new In‑Season Challenge.

Meanwhile, Hamlin's 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace currently holds the 16th and final locked-in playoff spot after Alex Bowman with 444 points. Tyler Reddick is 13th in points, ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series' upcoming Chicago Street race.

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"Tonight was a great example" - Chase Elliott on doing the right things

Chase Elliott's win at his hometown track of EchoPark Speedway was his 20th NASCAR Cup win and first since Texas in April 2024. The massive Stage 2 wreck knocked out over 20 cars and Elliott executed a picture-perfect last-lap move to edge past Brad Keselowski by just 0.168 seconds. He started the final ten laps down in eighth position and got help from teammate Alex Bowman to surge to the front.

Elliott had two top-5 finishes leading up to Atlanta and during a post-race interview, the 29-year-old reflected on his performance.

"I believe that in this sport, if you’re doing all those right things, A, that’s something to be proud of. And B, if you’re doing them regularly, you’re going to get a return. I thought tonight was a great example of that. Truthfully, the past three or four weeks have been a good example of that," Chase Elliott said.

"We’ve had some good runs. We’ve put together some great races, had some good finishes," he added.

The 2025 Grant Park 165 is set to begin at 2 pm on July 6. Elliott has one top-5 finish at the Chicago Street Course.