Picture the scene at Talladega Superspeedway on October 6, 2024: the YellaWood 500’s gone into overtime, and Austin Cindric’s leading the inside lane, stretching the pack while trying to lap Todd Gilliland. Suddenly, Brad Keselowski, powered by a Joey Logano push, bumps Cindric, sending him spinning wildly. The chaos unfolds like an accordion snapping back, as motorsport journalist Kelly Crandall put it, with 28 cars tangled in the biggest wreck in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Fast forward to last weekend’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway on June 28, and Atlanta’s high banks delivered another jaw-dropping pileup, with 23 cars caught in a Stage 2 disaster. Now, someone’s stepping up to take the blame for that Atlanta mess, and it’s none other than Denny Hamlin himself.

Hamlin owns up to his Atlanta fumble

Denny Hamlin didn’t shy away from the spotlight on his Actions Detrimental podcast, diving into the Atlanta chaos with raw honesty. “Listen, I’ve watched the replay a few times. Maybe it was my fault,” he admitted.

He broke it down further: “Somebody in front of me zigged and zagged. And said this on my interview. It’s like these guys were tail wagging and was just pushing as I normally do. Spotter tells me they’re locked on in front. That tells me I’m able to continue to push. Everything’s kind of good to go. And yeah, I was the end of the snake tail that lost control. But it’s but it looked like knocked the 42 kind of out of control. Maybe it’s on me.”

On Lap 69 of Stage 2, Hamlin was glued to John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 42, pushing hard in the draft. His tap sent Nemechek into the wall, sparking a chain reaction that engulfed 23 cars, including big names like Joey Logano, William Byron, Ross Chastain, and Chase Briscoe.

Hamlin reflected deeper on the podcast, “So I think that when he says locked on in front, I probably should have checked slightly to, you know, ‘cause then what happens is, is that the 42 is locked on the front and getting pushed from the back. He’s he doesn’t have much load on his tires because, you know, I’ve got the front. He’s controlling with the front of the car in front of him. So I think that it’s it’s hard to get multiple cars linked all together like that without the tail wagging the dog.” 

The wreck was pure Atlanta chaos, tight drafting gone wrong. Nemechek’s spin triggered a domino effect, with cars sliding and slamming, blocking the track entirely. Of the 11 race winners in 2025, nine got caught in Atlanta’s crashes, with only Kyle Larson and Shane van Gisbergen dodging the bullet. The red flag waved to clear the massive debris field, and tow trucks struggled to haul away the wreckage. Hamlin’s No. 11, the No. 1 seed in the In-Season Challenge, was toast, along with Logano’s pole-sitting No. 22. The crash reshaped the $1 million tournament, knocking out top seeds and opening the door for others.

Amid the carnage, Chase Elliott seized the moment, battling Brad Keselowski in a thrilling final lap to win the Quaker State 400 by 0.168 seconds. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native sent the home crowd into a frenzy, marking his first victory of 2025 and securing the playoff berth. “It’s special,” Elliott said, savoring the roar of the grandstands.

The best finish by a JGR car at Atlanta was by Ty Gibbs. He finished 14th in a race mired by crashes and wrecks. However, there was some special within the #54 camp that has brought about this positive change.

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Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief joins Ty Gibbs

In a wild twist for the 2025 season, Ty Gibbs is getting a crew chief double-team to chase his first Cup Series win. Tyler Allen stays as Gibbs’ primary crew chief, but Chris Gabehart, Denny Hamlin’s former right-hand man and now Joe Gibbs Racing’s competition director, is joining the No. 54 pit box as “Race Strategist” for a few races.

“Let’s call it unorthodox for this garage,” Gabehart said, aiming to push Gibbs into the playoffs with eight regular-season races left. Sitting 24th in points, 37 below the cutline after Atlanta, Gibbs has struggled, with just two top-fives and one other top-10 in 18 races.

Gibbs has shown flashes of brilliance, though. A surprising third at Michigan tied his career-best, and he battled Shane van Gisbergen late in Mexico City before fading to 11th. At Michigan, Gibbs griped over the radio about a fuel-saving strategy that handed Hamlin his 57th career win, feeling it cost him a shot.

Gabehart shut that down fast “Hey, we didn’t give [anything] away. We had a great day. We got a top-five. Our other car won. It’s about [the] big picture.” With Gabehart’s strategic know-how now in Gibbs’ corner, the young driver’s got a new edge to break through in Chicago’s street race and beyond.

Banking on points isn’t the safest approach, as there are new winners every weekend. Gabehart and Allen need to ensure that the #54 Toyota gets in the victory lane soon.