“Living in a Fairytale Land!” Denny Hamlin Blasts Brad Keselowski After Scathing Remarks on Riley Herbst

23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin has responded to the angry rant from Brad Keselowski post-race over the chaotic Daytona 500 finish.

“Living in a Fairytale Land!” Denny Hamlin Blasts Brad Keselowski After Scathing Remarks on Riley Herbst

Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Riley Herbst (Via IMAGO)

The 2026 NASCAR Cup season opener, the Daytona 500 witnessed a chaotic yet entertaining finish. 23XI Racing and Tyler Reddick, earned their moment of redemption, with bold overtake on Chase Elliott to become the 500 champion. It was the first ever win at the event for the racer and the Toyota team.

Not everyone was happy with the chaos at the end and that includes Brad Keselowski and forcing Denny Hamlin gave the veteran reality check. The RFK Racing owner driver believed his shot at the race win was ruined by Riley Herbst wreck and went on a rant post-race insisting he would have won if not for the “stupid” move.

The 35 [Herbst] just wrecked me out of nowhere for no reason, That was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. He had no chance of blocking my run. I had a huge run — I don’t know if I could have gotten to the 45, but I would have liked to have found out because my run was coming fast and the 35 just wrecked us and himself. Pretty stupid.

Brad Keselowski said.

23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin on his podcast addressed the No:6 Ford driver’s comment on his podcast, and pointed out that there was no chance the RFK Ford was in the fight for the race win. The pace and track position was in favor of Tyler Reddick, with just 200 yards left in the race, before the wreck.

The six (Keselowski) was not getting there. We’re living in a fairytale land if people think that the six was actually going to get all the way there. I don’t think so.

Denny Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental.

The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran asserted that though the Ford was faster towards the end, there was no hope for him to get close to the No:45 Toyota. Keselowski would have been able to get beside the HMS veteran Chase Elliott, but not the 23XI racer.

The six is running 192 miles per hour. The 45 (Reddick) is running 188.5 at the same point on the race track. He’s probably at this time four car lengths behind with 200 yards to go. Somewhere in there, there’s a math equation. …I think he would have gotten beside the nine (Chase Elliott), like right there where the nine was, but he wasn’t going to get all the way there.

Denny Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin is a proud NASCAR team owner after Tyler Reddick’s win

In the same conversation, the JGR veteran shared his thoughts on the impressive race win from his driver Tyler Reddick. He admitted that he was really surprised how the No:45 team finished P1 and when he saw the replay, where Reddick moved his way up the track with the help of Herbst, it was a proud mentor moment for him.

Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick
Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick (Via IMAGO)

It’s great. It certainly makes up for the sting of the race. The day was more good than bad. … They told me when I crossed the line. … The first thing I was thinking was, ‘I wonder how that happened?’ … He created a run. He created a run, and I looked at how he got that run through [Turns] 3 and 4, and I was very proud. I was very, very proud.

Denny Hamlin said.

The comments from three times Daytona 500 champion are on point and Tyler Reddick, as well as the 23XI team deserves all the credit for the success. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star racer as well his team in the rest of the 2026 season.

Also Read: Justin Allgaier Takes FULL Blame for Massive Daytona 500 “Big One”