Denny Hamlin makes feeling known on sacrificing for teammate Christopher Bell, just as Blaney did for Logano

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin praised the teamwork displayed by Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney in the closing laps at Las Vegas. When asked if he would do the same for his JGR teammate Christopher Bell in a similar scenario, Hamlin stated he would ultimately help his teammate.

At the South Point 400, Blaney was involved in a wreck which put him multiple laps down on the leaders. Meanwhile, his teammate Logano was stretching his fuel to the finish, with Bell charging to the front having pit for fuel. Blaney helped Logano save fuel by pushing the #22 Ford on the straights and ultimately helped him win the race, to the detriment of his own points situation.

On the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, co-host Jared Allen posed a tough question for Hamlin. He asked if Bell were leading the race on a fuel-saving strategy, would Hamlin help his teammate, even if it meant jeopardizing his own chances of advancing to the Championship 4?

The #11 Toyota driver said he would be willing to help out his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, especially if it was communicated over the radio.

"I didn't think about that part of it. My quick reaction was, yeah, certainly, and especially if I was told to. But I didn't think about that Logano winning does hurt Blaney's point situation, right? We've seen, though, the Penske teammates work as well, or, if not, the best of any of helping each other in those types of situations," Denny Hamlin said.

Hamlin also elaborated on how Blaney helped reduce drag on Logano's #22 Ford and helped save fuel.

"By having the #12 around you, he can either be in front of you or behind you. He's helped pushing you down straight away. Even if he's not physically pushing it's taking drag off of your car, which allows it to go faster down the straightaway with you having to run less throttle."

With two races remaining in the Round of 8, Logano has secured his spot in the season finale, while teammate Blaney is 47 points below the cut-line. Denny Hamlin sits 27 points below the cut-line.

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Denny Hamlin on Joey Logano and Ford's fuel-mileage masterclass

Joey Logano's fuel mileage victory at Las Vegas wasn't the first instance of the #22 Penske team deploying such a strategy. They successfully navigated the five-overtime restart at Nashville without pitting, which allowed them to win the race and secure their spot in the playoffs.

Denny Hamlin shared insights into why the Fords excel at saving fuel, pointing out that the Mustangs have less drag, which is evident by their speed on superspeedways.

"They have less drag than all the other cars, which is why they qualify so well at superspeedways. Essentially to break it down, drag is how fast you go on the straightaways and downforce is how fast you go on the corners," Denny Hamlin said. [from 40:11]

"The Fords just seemingly, for whatever reason in their car builds have less drag, and it allows them to naturally get better fuel mileage."

The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver also suspects Ford teams to have different engine mappings, which could also help them save fuel.