Just 27 laps into the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway, a massive wreck collected about a dozen cars, including bubble driver Alex Bowman.
The wreck began when Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch got tangled together in the tri-oval, and ultimately ended Wallace’s night, but also collected 23XI Racing teammate Riley Herbst, as well as his boss, Denny Hamlin.
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On his weekly podcast, Actions Detrimental, Hamlin analyzed the wreck and the root cause of it.
“It looked like to me that Bubba just squeezed those two guys below him down,” explained Hamlin. “You could just see that they’re there, two cars on the inside. “I don’t know what Freddie [Kraft, #23 spotter] was calling. Maybe he was saying three wide top or not — I’m not sure, but he [Wallace] just squeezed on down there and there was no room. So he ended up wrecking himself, and obviously a few others.”
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Some mentioned how Kyle Larson was pushing Wallace, and he may have had an impact on where that No. 23 ended up in that situation. However, Hamlin seemed to disagree.
“I’m looking at it and I don’t think so. The #5 [Larson] was already on him close, but no. That’s just the #23 not clear. It’s just one of those not clear moments.”
Hamlin soldiered on to a 25th-place finish, but it continues a streak of bad finishes for him at the iconic superspeedway. He crashed on the final lap of the 2025 Daytona 500 while battling for the win, and he has zero finishes higher than 17th in all eight Next Gen era races at the track. That is quite the surprise, as Hamlin is a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 with the previous generation of car.
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Photos from Daytona – Race
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
General view
General view
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
General view
General view
Jonathan Bachman – Getty Images
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Jonathan Bachman – Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
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Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Jonathan Bachman – Getty Images
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
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Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Multi-car wreck
Multi-car wreck
James Gilbert / Getty Images
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Multi-car wreck
Multi-car wreck
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Multi-car wreck
Multi-car wreck
Chris Graythen – Getty Images
Read Also:
Bubba Wallace and others react: What caused early Daytona melee?
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Winners and losers from an unbelievable NASCAR Cup race at Daytona
Shane van Gisbergen clinches NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year honors
Inside the chaos that decided NASCAR’s final playoff spot
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