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

Denny Hamlin had an interesting take on last Saturday's (June 28) early-race wreck at EchoPark Speedway that took out a number of big-time contenders. In a recent episode of his "Actions Detrimental" podcast, the driver of the #11 explained how it was the best thing that happened in the entire race.

On the 69th lap of Saturday's Cup Series race, a massive 22-car pileup ensued on the backstretch, collecting among others, Hamlin, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and William Byron. Hamlin's #11 machine was battered in the incident, which resulted in a 31st-place finish.

Despite getting caught up in the wreck himself, Hamlin believes it was the best thing to happen for the race itself. After the crash took a number of cars out of the race, Hamlin explained that it widened the field and allowed for more passing and exciting racing. Here's what Denny Hamlin said on the "Actions Detrimental" podcast:

"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)

The race saw Chase Elliott overtake Brad Keselowski on the final lap to win his first race of the 2025 season. It was the second victory for Elliott at his hometrack in Atlanta and his 20th Cup Series win overall. Elliott became the 12th different winner of 2025 with eight races remaining in the regular season.

---

Denny Hamlin gives props to Ty Dillon's post-race comments following in-season challenge upset

NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart - Qualifying - Source: Getty

Denny Hamlin entered the first-ever NASCAR in-season challenge as the #1 seed. However, after getting caught up in the 22-car incident early in the race, Hamlin was eliminated in the opening round by Ty Dillon, who finished the race in eighth.

In his post-race interview, Dillon gave a humorous jab at Hamlin and his fans by saying he knocked their favorite driver out of the tournament. The line was a spin-off of Hamlin's infamous "I beat your favorite driver" line that he's used after a few of his wins in the Cup Series.

While some might've expected Hamlin to be upset about the line, the co-owner of 23XI Racing set the record straight. Here's what Denny Hamlin said regarding the matter on the "Actions Detrimental" podcast:

"Ty Dillon, give him his moment, people. He beat me. He was ahead of me the whole f***ing race. He texted me and was like, 'Hey, I was just playing around,' and I'm like, 'Bro, I loved it.'"

Denny Hamlin has three victories in 2025, which came at Martinsville, Darlington and Michigan, respectively. After 18 races, Hamlin sits fourth in the points standings.