"They absolutely delivered" - Denny Hamlin holds Ryan Blaney's "masterful drive" at Martinsville in high regard
Denny Hamlin shared his take on Ryan Blaney's win at Martinsville as the Team Penske driver repeated his success story from last season. Blaney won the final race of the Round of 8 to book his ticket into the Championship 4.
Blaney's drive came in for high praise from the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran, Hamlin. Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast this week about the defending Cup champion's Martinsville win, Denny Hamlin said:
"They absolutely delivered, and Ryan, I can tell you first-hand, he was taking no prisoners out there. I think he nailed everyone, myself included, on his way to the front. I was really pissed...had I been fast enough, I was going to try to get him back as hard as I could, but he cleared me out so much that I didn't have time to get back to him. He did what he had to do and I thought he had a masterful drive" [44:30].
Hamlin also remarked that Blaney's #12 Ford Mustang was "phenomenal" over the long run.
He likened the recent race to the race last year at Martinsville which Blaney also won. The #11 driver highlighted that a long green flag run led into the finish line, in which Blaney drove to the win. Hamlin added that Blaney's move up the positions this year was similar to his finish in 2023.
Denny Hamlin comments on Ryan Blaney's bump-and-run on Shane van Gisbergen
As the race at Martinsville entered its final third, Ryan Blaney was battling on track with William Byron. On lap 345, the defending Cup champion decided to make the move to pass Byron, and in doing so, bumped Shane van Gisbergen, out of the way.
Speaking about this incident on his podcast, Denny Hamlin commented that Blaney "losing his mind" a little bit isn't a secret. However, Hamlin added:
"But he's moving on and going to Phoenix, and so I think that he knew how fast his car was. He can't afford to sit behind anyone and let laps click away so his mindset is just 'get you out of the way and let's keep this train moving forward'" [45:50],
As for his own car, Denny Hamlin remarked that the #11 Toyota Camry didn't have "the raw speed." He said that at times he felt very similar to last year's race, when he was the second-best car, after Blaney's #12.
Hamlin pressed on the need for JGR to get back to work and fix their issues considering the organization that has names like Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell, hasn't won in 16 races. The veteran added that there were races that it "could have" or "should have" won. The fact was that JGR didn't win those races and is in a dry spell.