It's a scenario both Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace have discussed on multiple occasions since Hamlin joined forces with Michael Jordan and hired Wallace to be 23XI Racing's first-ever NASCAR Cup Series driver in September 2020 for 2021: racing for the win.
Sure, they've battled on track before, and it's been no different, generally speaking, than what we see from any other on-track battle between two drivers who actually aren't racing against the team they own – or the team owner for whom they're competing.
But never has there been a true battle for the win between Hamlin and one of the cars he co-owns like there was on the final lap of Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway.
The winner? Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott.
Hamlin and Wallace have both discussed the fact that they'd race each other the same way they'd race anybody else in such a scenario. Of course, many fans didn't believe it until they saw it.
But after seeing Hamlin run Wallace high and into the wall while trying to overtake him for the lead, all while dealing with power steering issues, and watching the two Toyota drivers hand Elliott and Chevrolet the victory, they were still upset with Hamlin for the way he drove.
Because of course they were.
Yet had Hamlin backed off, knowing he's basically locked in (even if not mathematically) to the round of 8 on points, NASCAR fans would have been livid that he "let Wallace win".
He would have been accused of not giving it 100% and manipulating the race outcome so that Wallace could advance to the round of 8, something he is now unlikely to do since he is so far below the cut line with only Sunday's Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval race remaining on the round of 12 schedule.
Fans would have called Wallace's win an illegitimate "Mickey Mouse" win, and as usual, there would have been all kinds of insults thrown his way (which there are on a weekly basis to begin with, but that's to be expected at this point).
The NASCAR fanbase is one that can and will always find something to complain about. So because Hamlin did what any rational race car driver would have done in that scenario, putting on his driver's cap and racing for the win against a competitor rather than focusing on what was, in that moment, his secondary role as a team owner, he has been criticized.
It was a lose-lose (really a lose-lose-lose) situation, and he lost, lost, and lost.
In his mind, however, he did avoid an even greater controversy, one fans would have been quick to cook up had he not done what he did.
"Could you imagine the outrage if I had just backed off and let him have it?" Hamlin asked on his Actions Detrimental podcast. "Holy ****. People would lose their minds. But instead, I think Bubba said it very accurately: we were going for the win. Both guys were going for the win."
He's exactly right, and it's the only right and fair way to go about it. Sure, Wallace was ticked off, called Hamlin a "f****** douche" and a "dumbass", and flipped him off in the car on the cooldown lap.
Childish or not, it's a standard heat-of-the-moment reaction, and it's not reflective of his employee/employer relationship with Hamlin; it's pure driver vs. driver, and it's nothing we haven't seen before.
Sure, Hamlin was criticized for the move afterward, and he would have been criticized even if he had won. What's new? Even Elliott is being criticized for making contact with Hamlin coming to the checkered flag (because we all know some drivers are allowed to do things that others aren't).
NASCAR fans judge their reactions based on the "who" more than the "what" all the time, and this was one of those scenarios. Obvious doesn't even begin to describe it.
But the driver of the No. 11 Toyota is 100% right. Like him or not, he has shown, specifically in recent years, that he knows the ins and outs of NASCAR's fanbase more than anybody.
And had he cut Wallace any semblance of slack in that scenario with a potential series-leading sixth win of the year right in front of him, the ensuing outrage from fans would have made this week's criticism look like child's play.
At the end of the day, both Hamlin and Wallace still need to lock themselves into the round of 8, with Hamlin (+48) fairly comfortable heading into the round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval and Wallace (-26) facing a steep uphill climb.
Tune in to USA Network at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 5 for the live broadcast of the Bank of America Roval 400. If you have not yet started a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss any of the action!