‘Just too aggressive pushing,’ Denny Hamlin forced out of the track after an eight-car crash in stage one of Daytona 500

‘Just too aggressive pushing,’ Denny Hamlin forced out of the track after an eight-car crash in stage one of Daytona 500

Denny Hamlin

Three times Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin has crashed out from the premier motorsport event in Daytona international speedway for the first time in his Daytona 500 career as he was able to finish all 16 previous races, he started winning 3 of them in 2016,2019 and 2020. If secured a win Denny Hamlin was going join Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty as the only drivers to win  ‘The Great American Race’ at least 4 times.

Denny Hamlin was caught up in an eight-car crash at the end of the opening stage where Brad Keselowski aggressively pushing rookie Harrison Burton caused him to lose control and hit Kyle Busch and William Byron. This made Byron’s car flip onto its roofs and then got back to its tires after a second hit.

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Denny Hamlin alongside Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, and Alex Bowman was forced to drive into the crash. Denny Hamlin’s number 11 Toyota Camry sustained major damages making him retire even before finishing the first 100 laps. Only Alex Bowman was able to continue the race and the other 3 had to bail out.

Find out what Denny Hamlin had to say about the crash

Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin
Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin said that too aggressive pushing without lining up correctly caused his car which was boxed in between the competitors to crash when he was trying to help his teammate Kyle Busch to advance.   

“We were kind of boxed in there where I noticed that something was going to happen, but I was boxed in, I was behind a teammate and I wanted to try to help. Again, just too aggressive pushing right there when they weren’t lined up and in control,” Denny Hamlin said.

Harrison Burton who was hit the first which caused the subsequent crashes said it was just an unfortunate incident as he might have ended up in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

“I’ve hit a lot harder before, that’s for sure. It’s just unfortunate. I don’t know if it was too much [of a push]. I just think it might have been in the wrong spot,” Harrison Burton said.

Denny Hamlin ended up in the stand as he spectated his co-owned team 23Xl racing, driven by Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch, from the stand alongside fellow owner NBA legend Michael Jordan.

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