Todd Gilliland on Denny Hamlin wreck at Atlanta - "I’ve watched the replay of that probably 100 times"

Todd Gilliland openly discussed his role in the huge multi-car wreck at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Denny Hamlin in the Quaker State 400, noting he has seen the wreck "probably 100 times" to get a grasp on the situation. He said the wreck began when Denny Hamlin’s car got "jacked up" by Kyle Larson’s No. 42, who was shoving the car in front of him, which then knocked Hamlin sideways and slowed down the group.

The contact between Gilliland and Denny Hamlin started a tsunami effect that collected 23 cars, including big names like Joey Logano, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cindric, damaging Team Penske's racing day, as none of their drivers made it to the finish. Hamlin's No. 11 car was sent into a spin across the circuit, leading to a red flag and a significant shakeup in the race order.

Gilliland eventually finished in 27th place and currently sits in 28th place in the points standings, while Denny Hamlin was demoted in the standings as a result of the wreck.

In a media availability session, he said:

“Yeah. I’ve watched the replays of that probably 100 times. I really don’t know. I feel like the 11 had the 42 jacked up and the 42 was pushing the guy in front of him. There was literally eight of us in the train. Obviously, looking back now knowing they wrecked, I should have had a bigger gap. That’s on me to look out for those guys, but they were all tight in front of them."

"I think he got the 42 sideways and that kind of slowed them down a little bit and then I got to their bumper, slowed down, and then I was getting pushed as well. I don’t know. To me, I hate that I was part of it. I definitely contributed to it, but on the flip side of it, it definitely seemed like maybe more of a racing deal,” he added.

Todd Gilliland is a 24-year-old NASCAR driver from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina. He is a third-generation racer and the son of former NASCAR driver and team owner David Gilliland. Gilliland raced in various regional series and quickly rose through the ranks to become the youngest winner in ARCA Menards Series history, which was a feat that earned him national acclaim.

He won back-to-back championships in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2016 and 2017. Todd Gilliland then moved to Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series, before competing in the Cup Series for Front Row Motorsports.

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Denny Hamlin believes the massive wreck was the “best thing” that happened to the 2025 Atlanta race

Denny Hamlin, despite being one of the main drivers caught in the massive 22-car wreck at the 2025 Atlanta NASCAR Cup Series race, described the incident as the "best thing" that happened to the event. On his "Actions Detrimental" podcast, Hamlin explained that the wreck fundamentally changed the race dynamics by creating space between cars on the track.

"That wreck was the best thing to happen to that race. There's no question about it whatsoever because what it did is it created space between the cars. We were not log-jammed two-by-two-by-two-by-two-by-two. There was space. There was only 15 cars maybe that were not damaged. So if you look, all the passing that was done at the end of that race... It was created through space of the cars." (7:40 onwards)

With only about 15 undamaged cars left, the field was no longer "log-jammed" in two-by-two formations, allowing for more passing opportunities and exciting racing in the final laps.