Denny Hamlin Clears Joey Logano Over Martinsville Crash After Reviewing In-Car Footage

Despite being spun out alongside teammate Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin revealed on his podcast that a post-race conversation and in-car footage convinced him Joey Logano genuinely did not know he was there.

The drama unfolded at Martinsville Speedway during the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500.

Short-track racing in Virginia rarely concludes without hurt feelings, bent sheet metal, and sharp post-race words.

Yet this particular chapter between Hamlin and his longtime rival took an unexpected turn.

Instead of launching a war of words, Hamlin extended an olive branch after reviewing the tape.

THE MARTINSVILLE INCIDENT

The contact occurred midway through Stage 2 on Lap 215 of the race.

Hamlin was battling wheel-to-wheel with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Christopher Bell.

Hamlin carried his No. 11 Toyota on the outside line around the tight oval.

Bell was running the inside groove in his No. 20 machine.

Logano arrived quickly from behind in his Team Penske Ford.

He spotted an opening and charged to the inside of Bell entering Turn 1.

That sudden move created an impossibly tight three-wide squeeze at the paperclip-shaped track.

Rather than backing out of the bottleneck, Logano drove hard into the rear of Bell.

The force sent Bell's car sliding directly into Hamlin's right side.

Both Joe Gibbs Racing cars spun out in tandem in the middle of the corner.

Remarkably, both drivers kept their cars off the wall and remained in competition.

Hamlin mounted a determined recovery drive to finish sixth.

Bell crossed the finish line four spots later in 10th position.

THE PRIVATE PODCAST REVELATION

Speaking on Tuesday's episode of his "Actions Detrimental" podcast alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin walked fans through what happened behind closed doors.

Hamlin immediately sought out Logano after climbing from his cockpit.

He wanted a direct explanation for the high-risk maneuver.

"I asked him. I said, 'Hey, did you really feel like you had to jam it in there 3-wide?'"

Hamlin said on the show.

Hamlin was particularly puzzled because of where they were running on the track.

There was no immediate pressure coming from behind them.

"There was actually nobody behind us," Hamlin noted.

He explained that they were the last cars on the racetrack after taking the wave-around following Carson Hocevar's self-spin.

Logano offered an honest perspective that immediately softened Hamlin's stance.

"He said, 'I'll be honest with you. I thought the 20 was just blocking me down the straightaway. I didn't know he was on the inside of you,'" Hamlin recounted.

Hamlin considered Logano's words carefully before reacting.

"I looked at it and I'm like, 'I can see where that can be a possibility,'" Hamlin explained.

"So, I just said, 'Gotcha, I understand,'" Hamlin added.

"I take him at face value on that."

WHAT THE IN-CAR FOOTAGE SHOWED

Hamlin did not just rely on Logano's word.

He took the time to study the video footage from inside the Team Penske cockpit.

What he saw through Logano's windshield supported Logano's claim completely.

"If you look at his in-car, you can't see me," Hamlin acknowledged.

Without Hamlin in view, the picture looked entirely different from Logano's seat.

To Logano, Bell simply appeared to be sliding across the track to protect position.

"It looks like Joey got a run off (turn 4) and it looks like, if I'm Joey, the 20 is just trying to block me and he's like, 'Well, [expletive] that,'" Hamlin said.

Because the No. 11 was hidden on the outside, Logano had no idea a teammate was alongside Bell.

"I was just the innocent guy that was there," Hamlin conceded.

"That's how I saw that incident."

PETTY DELIVERS HARSH VERDICT

While Hamlin found peace with Logano, he could not escape criticism from NASCAR royalty.

Seven-time Cup Series champion Richard Petty did not hold back his thoughts on Hamlin's Martinsville performance.

Petty shared his candid review on the Petty Racing Recap.

"I figured if Denny was ever going to show anything, it was going to be at Martinsville," Petty stated bluntly.

Hamlin had entered the weekend with immense momentum after securing pole position in qualifying.

"When he started on pole, I said, 'Okay, they've got their stuff together, and the 5 car is going to be hard-pressed to gain any points on it,'" Petty observed.

Yet Hamlin managed to gain only three points on championship leader Kyle Larson throughout the afternoon.

Petty's final assessment was short and cutting.

"That was really disappointing," Petty said.

STRATEGY STUMBLE AT MARTINSVILLE

Part of Hamlin's undoing stemmed from a critical tactical gamble early in the race.

During Stage 1, much of the field elected to pit under green-flag conditions.

Hamlin and Larson both rolled the dice and remained on the racetrack.

The gamble failed when no yellow flag appeared before the stage break.

Neither driver earned a single stage point as their track position evaporated.

Former Cup crew chief Steve Letarte analyzed the misstep on NASCAR's Inside the Race program.

Letarte highlighted William Byron, who pitted under green and capitalized fully.