NASCAR star Denny Hamlin FUMES at team after keeping major playoff rival alive

Denny Hamlin was literally fuming in Charlotte on Sunday evening after unwittingly handing a major NASCAR rival new life in the Cup Series playoffs.

The 44-year-old superstar was already pretty much guaranteed a spot in the Final 8 heading to Sunday’s elimination race at the Roval, but three-time champion Joey Logano was in real danger of an early exit.

In an ideal world Hamlin would advance safe in the knowledge that playoff king Logano would no longer be a factor in the 2025 title race, but things went horribly wrong on the final lap of the Bank of America Roval 400.

Hamlin, clearly unaware of the implications, passed the No. 1 car of Ross Chastain in a move which sent Chastain below the cutline and Logano above. Incredible scenes.

The drama did not stop there, with Chastain then wrecking Hamlin at the final chicane in a desperate bid to regain the advantage in the race for playoff survival. This was the final nail in the coffin for Ross, who would lose several more places as he reversed across the line in a wild finish.

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Hamlin rages at Logano blunder

Afterwards Hamlin was clearly frustrated by the lack of information provided by his pit crew as he fumed about the implications of that final-lap overtake.

Hamlin told reporters, including FOX insider Bob Pockrass: “I would have made the best decision for me, I wish I would have known.”

Now Hamlin will wake up every day for at least three weeks knowing that three-time champion Logano remains a danger to his bid for that elusive first ever Cup Series title.

He admitted: “I mean on pace the 1 is faster than the 22 but if it comes down to the final four, the 22 probably has a leg up there.

“But again, I’m just trying to advance and again, I didn’t know if I was running 10th or 25th. Listening to the radio all the time, there was just crickets, nobody said anything, nobody told me anything. I wish they did.”

That frustration from Hamlin was displayed again in another postrace conversation, in which he angrily says “I would not have passed him” (you can watch that here).

After all that chaos and excitement, the playoffs move on to the Round of 8 this week with Las Vegas hosting the South Point 400 (Sunday, 5.30pm ET, USA network).

NASCAR Charlotte results

The final results from Sunday at the Roval looked like this:

Latest Cup Series playoff standings

The standings look like this after Charlotte, and heading into Las Vegas:

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