"7 caused it" - Denny Hamlin accuses Corey LaJoie for massive Daytona wreck

Denny Hamlin has blamed Corey LaJoie for causing the multi-car accident during the second stage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who was caught up in the wreck, made a blunt accusation against the Spire Motorsports driver on X (formerly Twitter), expressing his frustration.

The incident occurred on Lap 61 of the 160-lap race when LaJoie and Noah Gragson were running line astern in the top-15 positions. The #7 Spire driver was constantly pushing Gragson, eventually causing Gragson to lose control and spin. The ensuing chaos led to a multi-car pileup, including LaJoie's car.

Denny Hamlin was among the 17 drivers caught in the multi-car wreck during the second stage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. There was some debate online about who was to blame, with NASCAR content creator Eric Estepp hesitantly asking his X followers if LaJoie had caused the multi-car pileup.

"Man.... don't tell me the No. 7 caused it." he wrote on X.

Denny Hamlin responded to the tweet, pointing fingers at LaJoie and suggesting that the #7 Spire Motorsports Chevy was responsible for the accident.

"7 caused it." the #11 Toyota drivers comment read.

The Stage 2 wreck collected Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, and Austin Dillon among many others. Elliott, Hamlin, Gragson, and Preece were done for the day, while the rest of the drivers could continue to race for the checkered flag.

Hamlin's misfortune was compounded by an earlier penalty for an engine inspection violation. This setback dropped him from third to eighth in the driver standings, putting his playoff hopes in jeopardy with just one race remaining in the regular season.

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Denny Hamlin elaborates on Corey LaJoie's wreck at Daytona

Denny Hamlin, the veteran Joe Gibbs Racing driver, suggested that the varying strategies employed by drivers during the lengthy second stage contributed to the multi-car wreck. Hamlin said that while most of the grid was saving fuel, few drivers were aggressively pushing to gain track position, which ultimately led to the multi-car wreck.

Here's what the 43-year-old told Bob Pockrass while speaking to the media after his short outing in Daytona:

"Everyone was going a little harder in the first stage, because we were inside the fuel window there. But the second stage, there was definitely some fuel saving going on which allowed some cars to be more aggressive because they wanted to get track position. I think it was just a combination of some people didn't want to go, some people did and obviously it caused the wreck."

Providing his perspective on the wreck, Hamlin said that he was boxed in and couldn't escape the incident. He added:

"Not from where I was at, I was boxed in. Saw the #7 turn in front of us. I didn't see anything other than that." he added.

Heading into the regular season finale at Darlington Raceway, Hamlin occupies eighth place in the regular season standings, 111 points behind points leader Tyler Reddick.