Denny Hamlin had a visceral reaction to Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman securing playoff spots in the most stressful way imaginable.
The nerves were frayed on Saturday night at Daytona for a couple of drivers, to say the least. For Tyler Reddick, it was only for a few moments but for Alex Bowman the wait stretched for a seeming eternity.
Reddick sustained extremely heavy damage in an early wreck, opening the door for him to potentially miss the playoffs despite entering the race with a decent cushion on points. It had to have been a sickening feeling.
“First of all he caused the first caution,” Denny Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental podcast. “23XI was 2-for-2 on causing the first couple of cautions. It just, off of Turn 4 there looks like he got tight, got into the 34. Just not holding the lane and it looked like they were in big, big trouble.
“At that point they know they’ve got so much damage they’re not going to score any stage points. The 48 is still up toward the front and it’s like, ‘Oh boy, here we go.’ This is how you cough it up, right here. Luckily for them the 48 got in it.”
When Aex Bowman was wiped out in the big one a few minutes after Reddick’s wreck, Reddick was officially locked into the playoffs. The DNF for Bowman prevented him from leaping Reddick in points, which would have put Reddick at risk if a new winner had emerged.
Instead, it was Bowman left in the precarious position. A new winner and he would be eliminated. A repeat winner and he was safe.
“I can’t imagine the stress that Alex was going through sitting there knowing that like you control zero of your destiny right now,” Hamlin said. “You’re essentially a fan watching on TV, hoping somebody that has won before wins again.”
As it turned out, Alex Bowman would be put through the ringer over the final 40 or so laps of the race. Around 40 laps out, Joey Logano had the lead. And given his penchant for holding onto leads, Bowman had to have felt pretty good about his chances.
Then Logano slipped up and a slew of potential first-time winners entered the fray. Chris Buescher pushed from second place. Erik Jones worked his way to the front. Then a host of others got close as it got into the final two laps.
Hamlin noted how cool it would have been to have a camera on Alex Bowman during the wild swings at the end. Alas.
“That would have been awesome. Maybe they have something internally,” Hamlin said before rethinking it. “No, they probably wouldn’t have anything internally because like I’m thinking about it, if I was sitting in the hauler, right, and I see that the odds are that I’m going to be knocked out, I probably, would I want a camera on me? Probably not.
“But man that would be great content, right? Holy s***. Because he’s sitting there probably just hand in head with two laps to go.”
With two laps to go, seemingly anyone had a chance at it. Kyle Larson made a push, which would have made Alex Bowman safe. But he couldn’t get all the way to the front.
Cole Custer made a charge, putting Bowman back in jeopardy. Finally, it was Ryan Blaney who sped all the way from 13th with two laps to go to edge out the win in a four-wide photo finish. A day for the ages for Alex Bowman and one he’s not likely to forget anytime soon.
Category: General Sports
