Denny Hamlin’s spin at the Sonoma Raceway was just as confusing as it was disappointing. While it was easy to throw a quick blame on the #77 of Carson Hocevar, there seemed to be a larger picture behind him. The onboard footage suggested that it was actually Brad Keselowski who bumped into Hocevar and triggered the chain reaction. However, even Keselowski found a strong defense.

“Idk man. Visibly getting pushed from behind,” Keselowski wrote on social media as many seemed to be blaming him for triggering the chain reaction. But the truth is that it was hard to determine to whom the blame was to be shifted. And, labeling it as a racing incident, Keselowski’s comment seemed to blame the entire bunch of cars entering the turn.

Looking at the entire sequence from an overhead shot, it seemed apparent that Turn 7 was far too tricky for this patch of race leaders to go through without an incident. Although from the initial contact, it did seem like it was Hocevar, who was initially pushed by Keselowski, there was a lot more going on behind him, too.

• Heading into the corner, Brad Keselowski was being trailed by Alex Bowman, who got a bit too close to the #6’s bumper.
• But again, even Wallace had both Joey Logano and Todd Gilliland following him up closely, and amidst the mess, it was a bit unclear to determine who triggered the reaction, because it could also have been an early braking from one of the leaders that eventually led to this.

Denny Hamlin claims to have had the pace to finish in the top 5

No matter who triggered the reaction, it was Denny Hamlin who had to pay the price. Sonoma has never been his strong point on the current NASCAR calendar, but he was running quite a decent race last Sunday. At the time of the incident, he was well within the top 10, closing in on the top five, and this was extremely good news, considering the bad day Tyler Reddick was having. This could finally mean that Hamlin would be at the top of the points table, which he did manage to achieve, but with a very narrow gap.

Hamlin dropped to the back of the field and continued just ahead of the #45. Although he showcased a strong pace throughout the race, the damage to his car snatched it away. Still, he managed to finish in 26^th place. He talked about his day to the media later on.

“I thought we were really doing a good job of having a good car. And I didn’t have great restarts. I’d lose one spot here and there, but we were a top-five car on speed. And then obviously once we got to the back, the nose got damaged so much that it just took all the downforce off of it.”

With four race wins and an average finish of 9.2, 2026 is turning out to be one of Hamlin’s most competitive seasons. He has been chasing down Reddick, who commanded the top of the points table much of the year, and finally managed to do it at Sonoma. However, with only a one-point gap, it wouldn’t be too hard for the #45 to reclaim the top spot. Hence, the frustration that Hamlin showcased.

At the end of the day, it didn’t matter if it was Brad Keselowski who triggered the reaction or someone else; it was Hamlin whose race got hampered, and it took a slight hit on his championship chances for the season.