Denny Hamlin accused of 'sabotage' with cheap move deciding NASCAR race
William Byron's chances of winning the Coca-Cola 600 were dented by a late move from Denny Hamlin with some NASCAR fans claiming sabotage.
NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin has been accused of sabotaging William Byron's Coca-Cola 600 after a late move hindered the Hendrick Motorsports driver's bid for victory. With five laps to go, Hamlin moved late, slowed Byron down, and allowed Ross Chastain to get behind the No. 24's rear bumper.
Chastain, driving the No. 1 car, then passed Byron and took the chequered flag for his first victory since Kansas last year in the playoff season. "Coke 600 was great, sucks that Byron lost the perfect race he had with 5 to go. Hamlin's move late that slowed down Byron and let Ross to his bumper was pretty cheap, but that's what you expect out of the 11," one fan said on X, criticizing Hamlin, the co-owner of 23XI Racing.
"Denny Hamlin sabotaged William Byron! And then Ross ran him up the track," a second added. "Just left the race. What I saw was Denny Hamlin completely cut off Byron and insert himself directly into Byron's path. Again Byron has to stay out of the middle but Denny did that on purpose," a third tweeted. It came as FOX host Danica Patrick was urged to change her controversial outfit at the Indy 500.
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Byron admitted his frustration after the race. A victory would have been the perfect way to celebrate his new four-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports. The 27-year-old has been one of NASCAR's most consistent performers in recent years.
"It's just frustrating. Don'treally have the words for it," Byron said after climbing out of his car. Chastain had fresher tires, making it harder for Byron to hold on. “He was catching me and I was trying to defend. I felt like I put a couplegood defensive moves on and then just reallydidn’t get through [Turns] 3 and 4,” Byron added.
“Got really loose over there and that was really it. He had a huge run down the frontstretch, tried to protect against that, but it was too much.”
It wasn't just Hamlin that Byron had trouble with. He also had a tough time up against defending champion, Joey Logano. “He was doing the usual,” Byron said of Logano.
“What I didn’t like is he just kept moving around in 3 and 4. I don’t know what he was doing. I think just was in traffic a lot that run.
"The 45 was running hard, and then lost a chunk there when he got loose. I think just it all kind of added up.”
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Despite missing out on victory, Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon was pleased with the race. “Overall, it was a really good race,” Gordon told NASCAR.com. “Disappointed when you dominate and run that well and don’t get it done. So I feel for William and the team, but also, there’s a ton to be proud of him. I thought he just drove a super impressive race today.
“I’m pretty sure he probably has the points lead now, and, you know, it’s like points leads great, and there’s points for that. But you want to win races and get those playoff points. I think overall you just take away how strong they were in the toughest race and I feel like because of that, they’ll continue to build some momentum.”
