“I've never heard anything like that”: Kyle Petty calls out Denny Hamlin’s strange strategy in Atlanta

Kyle Petty has scrutinized Denny Hamlin's strange strategy to avoid wrecks at the Playoff opener race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The former NASCAR driver called out the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's take during the post-race interview, wherein he talked about trying to get 20 points from the race weekend.

The Quaker State 400 witnessed Joey Logano clinch his second Cup Series win this season and advance to the Round of 12. The Team Penske driver restarted alongside Daniel Suarez on Lap 265, with their teammates behind them. Ryan Blaney pushed Logano while Ross Chastain tried to help Suarez snap the win.

However, on Turn 3 of the final lap, Chase Elliott shoved Chastain into the wall. As a result, Suarez lost the momentum gained from the push and Logano's #22 Ford propelled to the victory lane.

Denny Hamlin's day, however, started and ended poorly. After kicking off his 266-lap run from the last spot, the JGR driver could barely keep himself among the frontrunners. He posted a 34th and 29th place finish in both stages and got collected in the final lap crash initiated by Elliott. Thus, the 54-time Cup Series race winner settled in 24th place at the 1.54-mile oval.

Seemingly, Hamlin anticipated more wrecks at the reconfigured track. During a post-race talk with Bob Pockrass, the 43-year-old opened up on his pre-race thoughts and "20 points" mindset. He said.

"I thought there would be a bigger wreck, you know, just trying to play the numbers, figured there'd be more incidences than there were, and there were still some playoff guys in some stuff. But overall, I didn't care about really what anyone else did, just tried to get 20 points, which is, you know, been the high team finish, and just tried to get through this round," Hamlin said.

Denny Hamlin's take "confused" Kyle Petty, following which, the latter called out the JGR driver. The eight-time Cup Series winner said (via @WhoisSkid on X).

"Who goes into the playoffs saying, 'I want to get 20 points in the first race.'? I've never heard anything like that in all the history of when we've had playoff. I just want to get 20 race points, I'm gonna ride back here. So, I'm more confused now than I was before I heard," Petty remarked.

Denny Hamlin's driver Tyler Reddick surges to the front after a dismal start to the race weekend

While Denny Hamlin's Atlanta race ended on a disappointing note, his co-owned venture, 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick produced a promising result. The #45 Toyota driver started his run from 23rd place on the grid and climbed to a 17th-place finish in the first stage and 11th in the second.

Moreover, the regular season champion braved through the multiple wrecks and cautions ensued on the drafting track to bag a sixth-place finish. With that, Reddick collected his 19th top-10 on the 2024 Cup Series calendar.

On the other hand, Denny Hamlin's second driver and non-playoff racer, Bubba Wallace, started beside teammate Reddick in the 24th. But he couldn't churn a similar result despite having the same machinery under his #23 Toyota's hood. Wallace finished in 29th after placing his ride 33rd in both stages.

It's worth mentioning that Tyler Reddick was the second-fastest Toyota driver in Atlanta. The fastest was JGR's Christopher Bell, who secured a fourth-place finish.