The Daytona 500 lived up to its notorious reputation last Sunday. With a generous sprinkling of crashes and ‘Big Ones’, NASCAR Cup Series drivers were at the mercy of superspeedway racing. Some of the wrecks were attributed to individual decisions rather than just the racetrack. Brad Keselowski attributed the final, and most crucial wreck of the day, to Denny Hamlin’s driver. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. found no fault with Keselowski’s rival.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw an unintentional move

“There’s a ton going on,” Dale Earnhardt Jr said on his podcast. “And so, I thought it was more like, he’s looking at what’s happening out in front of him. He’s looking over here on the left, and he didn’t have all the corners of the car covered, and it wasn’t so much like, hey, I’m going to wreck these. Uh, it was more like, hey, I’m pulling up into an area where there’s a car, and I didn’t know he was there.”

Brad Keselowski, facing a 60-race winless streak, was in close range of a victory at Daytona. However, the RFK Racing owner/driver was flanked by a fierce Toyota duo. Riley Herbst delivered a push to his teammate, Tyler Reddick, upon exiting Turn 4. Then, Herbst bounced to Chase Elliott’s side to claim second place, which was already occupied by Keselowski. The collision then engulfed the field in a multi-car wreck.

Brad Keselowski said it was “one of the dumbest things” he has ever seen. His spotter and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s co-host on the Dale Jr Download, TJ Majors, also harbored a similar view. Yet Majors toned down Herbst’s faults.

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“I do think it was a dumb move,” Majors said. “I mean, I don’t blame him for trying. I don’t think Riley was like, “Oh, I’m going to wreck these guys now.” He added, “If two cars are coming with a run in tandem like that, you don’t get in front of him. You’re going to get, you’re wrecking.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded by sticking to his opinion that Riley Herbst had no foul intentions. “I get it. But I’m telling you, I don’t think he knew y’all were coming or even out there.”

While Brad Keselowski was furious about the mess, the rest of the garage was dubious. Another veteran also watered down Keselowski’s claims.

Tough to overcome another Toyota

Riley Herbst, the No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota driver, rattled Brad Keselowski’s drive. According to the latter, Herbst’s aggressive move was the only thing that stood between him and a Daytona 500 win. However, Denny Hamlin, 23XI co-owner, begged to differ. The veteran slammed Keselowski’s claim and said that Keselowski would have been no match for the other Toyota driver, Tyler Reddick, who eventually won the race.

“The six (Keselowski) was not getting there,” Denny Hamlin said in an ‘Actions Detrimental episode. “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.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver further broke down his argument. “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 (Elliott), like right there where the nine was, but he wasn’t going to get all the way there.”

Tyler Reddick’s Daytona 500 victory is now the talk of the town. Let’s wait and see how many other drivers 23XI Racing leaves chafing with regret.