When you control what you can control, you can't really worry about what you can't control. That appears to be Denny Hamlin's approach to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, which many believe give him his best chance to finally return the title of "winningest non-champion in Cup Series history" to the late Junior Johnson next month.
At Kansas Speedway, Hamlin took matters into his own hands, made an aggressive move on his own 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace on the final lap, and opened the door for Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott to secure the win and advance to the round of 8.
But the real beneficiary of the move wasn't Elliott, who would have been above the round of 8 cut line even if Wallace, who was well below the cutoff, had effectively stolen a round of 8 bid with a win. It was Team Penske's Joey Logano.
A Wallace win would have put Logano eight points below the cut line heading into the round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, with Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe occupying the eighth and final spot above the cutoff. Instead, Logano held the eighth and final spot by 13 points over Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain.
The points battle to advance to the semifinal round did indeed come down to Logano and Chastain, with Chastain holding a one-point advantage over the three-time and reigning series champion heading into the final lap, despite making two crucial mistakes in the pits earlier in the race.
Of all drivers, of course it was Hamlin chasing him down (for 18th place).
Hamlin took the spot away from Chastain, meaning Chastain and Logano were tied for the final round of 8 spot. Logano owned the tiebreaker, as his best finish of the round of 12, a fourth place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, was better than Chastain's best, a ninth place effort at the same track.
Chastain tried to get back around Hamlin by running into the back of him in the final chicane of the 17-turn, 2.32-mile (3.734-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina track, but he spun both drivers out in the process. Logano actually crossed the line ahead of Chastain and ended up four points ahead of him for that final round of 8 spot.
As for Hamlin, it marked the second week in a row that he basically saved Logano's season. Had Wallace won at Kansas, he would have advanced instead of Logano. Hamlin would have advanced to the round of 8 regardless, prompting fans to criticize the move. And had Hamlin not passed Chastain, Chastain would have advanced instead of Logano.
As Hamlin pointed out this past week, however, him not giving 100% would have only caused more complaints from the NASCAR fanbase. Had he let Wallace win, per se, "people would lose their minds".
And in the case of Chastain, had Hamlin simply not challenged for the spot to eliminate Logano, that could have been considered race manipulation as well, and Hamlin obviously has no reason to try to help Chastain to begin with. Racers race.
Still, it's a bit ironic that Logano has Hamlin to thank, two weeks in a row, for helping him advance to the round of 8.
Though he is set to start the round of 8 last among the eight championship contenders in the standings, perhaps he can make Hamlin regret letting him hang around by advancing to the Championship 4 in an odd-numbered year for the first time ever.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Logano won to open up the 2024 round of 8 and punch his most recent Championship 4 ticket, is scheduled to host the South Point 400 to begin this year's round of 8 on Sunday, October 12. USA Network's live coverage is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!