While Shane van Gisbergen drove away to his fifth consecutive win on a road or street course in Sunday's race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, all the drama unfolded behind him. As Joey Logano tried to drive his way through the field on fresher tires, Ross Chastain kept fading on older tires as the battle for the final transfer spot came down to the final lap.
Denny Hamlin got around Chastain coming to the checkered, which ultimately put Logano into the transfer position on a tiebreaker over Chastain. With no other way around Hamlin, Chastain sent his No. 1 Chevrolet into the frontstretch chicane and completely wiped out both himself and Hamlin before reversing across the finish line, four points below Logano at the cut line.
While Hamlin has become the points leader following the pre-round of 8 reset, it marked the second week in a row that he inadvertently helped longtime rival Logano keep his championship hopes alive.
At Kansas Speedway, Hamlin pushed Bubba Wallace wide and opened the door for Chase Elliott to win at Kansas. Elliott would have advanced regardless, but Wallace would have ultimately taken Logano's spot had he won.
On Sunday, though, Hamlin's post-race comments highlight a bigger problem. While he admitted to not having any idea what was going on around him, he had this to say when asked if he wanted to talk to Chastain after what happened,
"No, I don't fault Ross at all," Hamlin said, per NASCAR.com. "I wish I knew so I could have been either prepared or made a different decision."
Those comments came after Hamlin radioed to crew chief Chris Gayle, "I would not have passed him," referring to Chastain.
Denny Hamlin was not the only one to speak about potentially letting Ross Chastain go on the last lap
Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks was asked what he thought of the final lap and did not place any blame on Hamlin for how everything transpired.
"For all of us watching, it's really easy to be looking at the scoring pylon and the points and us making decisions in our mind that we think race car drivers are making decisions inside their car, " Marks said in his post-race press conference.
"Ultimately, everybody's out here to try to get the best finish and best result for their team and I don't think anybody really owes it to anybody else to try to help anybody else. ...
"When we look at all these cutoff races, and it comes down to one point, two points and one position, you have to remember that everybody out here is employed by somebody and they're trying to do the best job for their race team and their boss. I guess that's how I think of it."
The topic of race manipulation has come up several times, most recently when Chevrolet and Toyota both attempted it in the Martinsville Speedway round of 8 cutoff race in 2024. The only difference between that race and Sunday was that teammates were not involved this time around.
Hamlin's decision to get around Chastain came one week after he proved fans wrong by racing the No. 23 Toyota of Wallace, the car he co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan, aggressively in the final turn and ultimately costing both of them the win. That showed that he is willing to do whatever it takes to win on Sundays as a driver.
Yes, he inadvertently helped Logano for the second week in a row by eliminating Chastain on Sunday and giving the three-time champion new life.
His comments, though, suggest the decision-making could have been different had he been aware of what was happening. Had he intentionally let Chastain advance, which he seemed to indicate he would have done, that could have put NASCAR in a tough spot since such tactics were not employed between manufacturer teammates like we've seen in the past.
In the end, Logano lives to fight another day while Chastain's playoff hopes have come to an end for 2025. The finish was something we have come to expect with today's playoff format, as drivers are willing to do anything to advance to the next round.
It sure sounds like the outcome would have been different if Hamlin was aware of the situation, however. But because no action was ultimately taken on the track to manipulate the outcome on his end, it is hard to fault him. After all, Logano is one of seven competitors he's set to compete against for the championship, which should be enough of a price to pay in this case.