Silence wasn’t an option after that finish. The final lap of the Daytona 500 erupted into chaos, sparked by a split-second move that ended Brad Keselowski’s shot at a crown jewel win. As cars scattered and tempers flared, the 2012 Cup champion called the decisive block from Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing driver “pretty stupid.” Now, with the dust settled but the debate still raging, the driver involved is explaining what really happened in those frantic final seconds.

“So I sat there for a second and my run was so big, to Denny’s point, I either had to hit the brake or I had to move faster. And I kind of slightly hit the brake a little bit as I was turning up, because when I saw them door bang, I was like, well, I’m going to win the race now. And so I went for the top three and ultimately missed it by four inches, five inches,” Riley Herbst said.

Charging toward the checkered flag in the No. 35 Toyota for 23XI Racing, Herbst believed he was setting himself up for a storybook finish in the Great American Race.

The RFK Racing driver, however, saw it differently, calling the move overly aggressive as the field thundered toward the stripe.

“That was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. He (Herbst) had no chance of blocking my run. I had a huge run. I don’t know if I could have gotten [Tyler Reddick] or [Ricky Stenhouse Jr.], but I would have liked to find out because my run was coming fast. And [Herbst] just wrecked himself and us. Pretty stupid,” Keselowski said post-race.

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Drama unfolded after an earlier crash on the white-flag lap trimmed the contenders to a select few. Chase Elliott surged ahead with help, while 23XI Racing teammates Herbst and Tyler Reddick lined up behind him, perfectly positioned to strike.

As the leaders banged doors exiting Turn 4, Reddick darted low. Herbst, seeing a massive run building behind him, had milliseconds to decide: check up and settle, or swing high and chase the win.

And as any Cup driver would, he chose aggression. The No. 35 driver drifted up the track looking to capture Keselowski’s momentum and slingshot from third to first. Instead, the timing was off by inches. Contact ensued, the field scattered, and the finish line became a blur of spinning cars and shredded hopes.

Through the smoke and mayhem, Reddick slipped clear to claim his first Daytona 500 victory, while Herbst was left defending a move he insisted was simply a driver refusing to lift with the biggest prize in NASCAR within reach.

The 26-year-old ultimately finished in eighth place, not a bad result, but of course not the ideal outcome he was hoping for. Team owner Denny Hamlin could not help but back his driver against Keselowski’s claims.

However, the 45-year-old is done playing the white knight; Hamlin is not stepping in as the hero for his former crew chief amid the latest Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit.

Denny Hamlin responds to JGR lawsuit

JGR stunned the NASCAR garage on Thursday by filing a lawsuit against former crew chief and competition director Chris Gabehart, seeking more than $8 million in damages.

The move immediately raised eyebrows, especially given Gabehart’s long-standing partnership with Denny Hamlin. While Hamlin did not issue a formal statement, he made his feelings known in his own unmistakable way.

Never one to stay quiet online, Hamlin responded with a reaction GIF of former driver Kenny Wallace, a subtle but telling move. After navigating his own share of courtroom headlines over the past two seasons, including last year’s antitrust saga, the veteran driver appears content to watch this one unfold from the sidelines.

According to the lawsuit, JGR accuses Gabehart of attempting to take proprietary setup data, financial information, including driver compensation details, and other team trade secrets, allegedly with the intent of sharing them with rival Spire Motorsports.

The team also claimed tensions grew after Gabehart sought expanded control over the program, leading to a split when no agreement was reached. And now, the former crew chief has hit back with his own response.

With rumors long linking Gabehart to Spire, the legal action could further complicate his next move. As a Hamlin, he seems to be letting the lawyers handle it and is instead focusing on the next race.