“It’s not a Russian roulette”: Denny Hamlin responds to Kyle Petty’s scathing criticism of his Atlanta strategy

Denny Hamlin had addressed Kyle Petty's criticism over his 20-point strategy at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had a dismal start to the Quaker State 400 after he and teammate Martin Truex Jr. started from the rear, due to a post-qualifying plug wire change.

Unlike Truex Jr., who climbed for a ninth-place finish in Stage 1 and 18th-place in Stage 2, Hamlin couldn't catch up with the frontrunners and settled in 34th and 29th in both stages. Moreover, during the final lap draft between the Team Penske and Trackhouse Racing teammates, Chase Elliott wrecked into Ross Chastain, which spiraled into a stack-up.

It collected many drivers, including the #11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin. After the race, the JGR driver explained that he anticipated more chaos at the 1.54-mile oval and tried to collect 20 points from his weekend.

However, the 54-time Cup Series race winner's post-race interview was scathingly criticized by Kyle Petty. The former NASCAR driver slammed Hamlin for his "20 points" mindset as he "never heard anything like that" in the playoffs history.

Moving forward, Denny Hamlin responded to Petty's remark. While talking on his podcast, the former emphasized his strategy wasn't up to the mark, however, because of his poor stats at superspeedway racing, he wanted to make a "bigger difference" from his 27th race weekend.

"Certainly not saying that this was the right strategy, but it was the one that I wanted to employ on the day. I don't know the last time I scored 20 points on a superspeedway race, it's been so long. I'm trying to make it to the next round, I'm trying to get to some of these tracks where team, driver, all those things make a bigger difference. It's not a Russian roulette of whether you get caught up in a wreck or not," Hamlin said (0:14).

"So, data and analytics, while I understand it wasn't around back in his (Kyle Petty) day, it is now, and if you're not using it, then you're a dinosaur. So, I'm just trying to use the information at my disposal to make the best decision," the Florida native added.

Hamlin hasn't registered a single top-10 finish on a superspeedway this year.

"Trying to avoid a 25th or worse place finish": Denny Hamlin backs his defensive racing at Atlanta

Denny Hamlin's overall stats in the 2024 season are studded with wins, top-5s, and top-10s. The veteran driver bagged three victories, nine top-5s, and 12 top-10s. However, his performance at superspeedways has become a point of concern.

Hamlin started eighth at the season-opener Daytona 500 but plummeted to a 19th-place finish. The next superspeedway race at Talladega witnessed the three-time Southern 500 winner start 23rd and succumb to a DNF after getting collected in the Lap 156 pileup.

Since the reconfiguration job between the 2021 and 2022 Cup seasons, Atlanta's surface has become similar to superspeedway racing like at the Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. As a result, Hamlin was careful at the track as his last outing on the quad-shaped oval was marred by a 23rd-place finish.

The JGR driver explained his defensive racing style at the playoff opener race and said (via Frontstretch on X).

"It was mostly me sitting back trying to avoid a 25th or worse place finish. That's...typically on these superspeedways where I've been, in Next Gen, I've gotten caught up in everyone else’s wreck possible. I tried not to do that today and obviously I got caught in the last one," Hamlin said (0:13).

Denny Hamlin is safe and above the cutline, while Martin Truex Jr. is in the playoff bubble, ranked 15th.