“I would not have passed him,” said a visibly distraught Denny Hamlin to crew chief Chris Gayle. Four drivers were eliminated from the Cup Series playoffs when the checkered flag was waved at the Charlotte Roval. Ross Chastain was one of them. The Trackhouse driver fought with the reigning champ, Joey Logano, over the eighth and final spot. Driving the No. 1 Chevy, Chastain did all he could to remain in contention, even launching a desperate move on the No. 11 Toyota in the closing stages of the race.

The gamble backfired. Hamlin inadvertently helped Joey Logano remain in the playoff hunt, a decision that may come to haunt him later. However, the Team Penske driver couldn’t help but offer his honest verdict on the situation, revealing that it was a Sophie’s choice scenario for the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran.

Joey Logano admits Hamlin faced a difficult situation

It was almost as if history were repeating itself in Charlotte. Last year, Joey Logano was nearly eliminated from the playoffs at the venue, only to get back into contention after Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy failed post-race inspection. The situation proved to be the turning point, as the Connecticut-native went on to win in Las Vegas the following week to lock up a spot in the championship-deciding finale. This time around, he was handed a reprieve by none other than Denny Hamlin, whose incident with Chastain helped the 35-year-old creep into the Round of 8.

Sharing his thoughts about Hamlin’s playoff choices, Joey Logano said in the pre-race press conference ahead of the Las Vegas race, “Denny would have to ask himself, ‘What’s going to give me the best chance to win the championship?’ if that’s your number one goal. If that’s your main goal, to do that, ‘What gives me the best chances to win the whole thing?’” He went on to say, “Ross has proven to do whatever it takes to get to the next round or to win. He’s done that multiple times. Do you want to race against him? I don’t know.”

Logano highlighted the dilemma Denny Hamlin found himself in, with no clear-cut right answer in such a scenario. He even went on to say, “You’re probably in a no-win situation, so you might as well just pass him and go and get a better spot.” While that makes sense, the reality is slightly different. Joey Logano is a bigger threat the deeper they go into the playoffs, with Team Penske winning every single championship in the last three years. The No. 22 Ford driver has lifted the Bill France Cup twice in that timeframe.

Perhaps the reason Hamlin felt hard done by was that he was kept in the dark about the scenario. The veteran racer probably felt he deserved to make an informed decision, especially with the stakes being higher than ever. He even said, “I don’t see any reason why I can’t know what the point situation is.” Looking back, this could very well be the turning point that helped Joey Logano win the championship once again at Phoenix Raceway.

Hamlin opens up about race manipulation concerns

With just a handful of races remaining before the season ends, NASCAR is keeping a close eye on the race manipulation tactics. The sanctioning body’s managing director of communications, Mike Forde, even admitted on the ‘Hauler Talk’ podcast that officials may have been forced to take action if Joe Gibbs Racing told Denny Hamlin not to pass Chastain at the Charlotte Roval, saying, “that would probably raise a red flag on our side.”

However, Denny Hamlin isn’t having it, and said, “I had no allegiance to either party, and so at that point, my question would be: ‘Do I have a right to choose my competitor?’” He went on to say, “But on the race track, I feel as though, as long as you’re you don’t have a bias to one party or another… I don’t know why you can’t make the best decision for yourself. I’m more wondering, what is going to be allowed?”

Surprisingly, even Joey Logano agreed, saying, “I don’t think that’s too far,” to make an informed choice after knowing the points scenario. Unfortunately, the damage was already done at the Roval, and the coming weeks will indicate just how much it’ll cost Hamlin, who’s desperate to mount a championship run and break his two-decade-long winless streak in the Cup Series. Do you think the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran will end up regretting his decision? Let us know in the comments!