Justin Allgaier took 100% of the blame for the big wreck that happened during Lap 124 of the Daytona 500 on Sunday. Denny Hamlin, too, was involved in the incident and admitted graciously on Actions Detrimental that 20% of the blame belonged to him. The wreck collected 20 drivers and changed the dynamics of the race altogether.
Allgaier was the race leader at the time of the wreck and Hamlin had been running behind him. There was just enough space for Hamlin to get by Allgaier and the veteran went for it with a push from behind. Just as he was about to pass, Allgaier pulled a late block and ended up turning both of them to the inside. Several cars behind them choked up as well.
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Hamlin said on his podcast that what he made was definitely an aggressive move. But he also stood ground that he was going to take every opportunity he got to take the lead and that he had made up his mind 100 yards before actually making the move that he was going to do it. He also clarified that there would have been enough space for him on the outside had Allgaier not moved up.
He went on to explain, “My 20% is that he didn’t have a whole lot of time for him to react or see that it was coming.” Now knowing what the outcome of his attempt is, there are things that Hamlin would have done differently.
“We were running 10 miles an hour faster than him at the time because of the push we got,” he said. “It would have caused a huge domino effect had I just checked up and not taken it. Or I could just gone to the bottom and probably cleared him doing it. All over again, had I known what the result was gonna be, I would have just stayed in line for a few more laps.”
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Hamlin ended the race in an underwhelming 31st position. Allgaier ended up with a disappointing DNF in what was his second Daytona 500 start for JR Motorsports. He’d told the press after the race that he would have rather it be someone else’s fault than his own. But he did take up the responsbility completely and explain why he did what he did.
“But you can only do the things you know at 100%, and I did that and it didn’t work out,” he said. “I hate it for everyone else, right, but I’ll stand here and take the blame square on my shoulders.” He will find a bit of ease knowing that Hamlin has taken a bit of the weight off him.
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