Regarding the decisive moment on the final lap of the Daytona 500 between them, Denny Hamlin says the moment was ‘too big’ for a young racer like Cole Custer and that the Haas Factory Team driver did not race with proper etiquette.
Hamlin had made the move for the win on the final lap down the backstretch on Austin Cindric when Custer got to his right side and turned into him into the Penske driver. It caused the crash that allowed William Byron to win his second consecutive Great American Race.
Hamlin wasn’t over it by time he recorded his Actions Detrimental podcast on Monday morning.
“They find themselves in a position they haven’t been in before and they just don’t know what to do,” Hamlin said of drivers like Custer with less experience. “I’m here to try to give constructive criticism and say, ‘You don’t have to do it. Trust me on this. Race it out. See the finish line then do whatever you want to do.’”
Custer had a media availability on Tuesday where he said he hadn’t heard what Hamlin said but explained the timing of his move.
“I know my point of view on it,” Custer said. “I don’t know what else to say. You’re all going for the same spot. Yeah, I wish I waited (until) the frontstretch to make that move (on the last lap), but there are reasons I made it on the backstretch. It’s racing for the Daytona 500.”
Custer said the inevitability of a wreck that could have ended the race at any time led to his deciding to make the move when he did.
“It was like, ‘Oh man, these guys are all wrecking. You gotta get to the lead now,’” Custer said. “You just didn’t feel like you had a second to waste.”
Ultimately, Custer said it was a matter of several drivers going for the same real estate.
“It’s three or four guys trying to go for the same place at the same time,” Custer said. “(Hamlin) side-drafting and then (Briscoe) ended up hitting me in the left rear and turning me into Denny. I don’t really fault anybody for that.”
Custer was also involved in the previous crash, one where he gave Christopher Bell a push that resulted in the Joe Gibbs Racing driver getting turned into the wall and collecting Ryan Preece, the contact sending the RFK Racing driver into the air and upside down.
For that incident, Custer said he felt ‘horrible’ because it was the first time he ever crashed someone at a superspeedway. Custer says he and Bell texted each other on Monday and that there wasn’t any personal animus.
“He’s like, ‘Yeah, my car just couldn’t really take a push that great all day,’” Custer said. “So there weren’t really any hard feelings. If I was going to do it again, I wish I got just a tick more square on (the bumper).”
All told, Custer says he didn’t have any regrets on his decision making that night.
“When it’s five to go, you’re going to have to push and shove,” Custer said. “It is what it is.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
