“That saved him on being in the championship”: Richard Petty makes head-turning claim about JGR driver getting lucky at Talladega

Richard Petty has opined that the historic wreck at Talladega saved Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin from getting dethroned from the road to the championship. The seven-time Cup Series champion outlined that the #11 Toyota driver surged to the front from running in the rear as the carnage transpired.

Denny Hamlin, who kicked off his YellaWood 500 race from eighth place, fell victim to Ryan Blaney's wreck on Stage 2's final lap. As Team Penske's #12 Ford got rammed by Alex Bowman, the drifting car collected Hamlin's #11 Toyota, damaging the front. The ill effects of the accident magnified as the JGR driver's steering angle was altered, which hindered his aerodynamic draft.

However, he got lucky after Cindric's crash spiraled into a 28-car pileup. At that time, Hamlin was half a mile behind the chaos and jumped 20 track positions, bringing his Toyota back into contention. As a result, the 54-time Cup Series race winner surged from potentially dropping below the playoff cutline to savoring a comfortable 30-point cushion with his P10 finish.

While discussing the chaotic Talladega race, Richard Petty outlined that the crash saved Hamlin from potentially losing the championship battle. Petty has bagged seven Cup titles, seven Daytona 500 wins, and nine NASCAR Most Popular Driver awards, to name a few, and has achieved legendary status in the sport. He said (via Richard Petty's Petty Racing Family on YouTube).

"The one that really gained on all that stuff was the 11 (Denny Hamlin's) car. Because 11 car had already gotten wrecked and he was all beat up. He was probably half a lap behind everybody and he was running 30 or something, and once they had that wreck, he wound up what first 10. So that saved him on being in the championship race. Other than that he'd been kind of eliminated," Richard Petty said (3:30).

Denny Hamlin is currently ranked fourth in the playoffs, while his teammate Christopher Bell is above in second place.

"It’s like a wreck fest": Richard Petty gives his take on the chaotic Talladega race

The 31st Cup Series race weekend turned fateful after just 12 laps, as Daniel Suarez got spun out, bringing the first caution at Talladega. However, the series of unfortunate events didn't stop until the 2.66-mile speedway created the modern era's biggest 'Big One.'

Alex Bowman's Lap 121 bump into Ryan Blaney resulted in a DNF for the latter and Ross Chastain, who got collected with Blaney. Denny Hamlin was also involved in the mess but didn't suffer acute damage and returned to the field after repairs.

Entering the final stage, the race was going Austin Cindric's way but with just five laps to go, Brad Keselwoski's lap 184 contact turned the tables around. Though the latter didn't get spiraled in the chaos and finished second, his wreck with Cindrc proved detrimental for eight championship contenders.

Richard Petty, during his discussion with the eight-time championship-winning crew chief Dale Inman, touched upon many topics about the race. The former gave his take on the "wreck fest" at Talladega, saying.

"It's like a wreck fest. I mean like a figure eight racing or something like that. You sit and watch the first segment of the thing and everybody's running and then the 12 (Ryan Blaney's) car gets hit and he gets knocked out. Then they have another segment that's completely different, and then they have the next segment (the Big One)," Richard Petty said (1:58).

"The only thing that separated stuff was when they had to stop under green. That made more of a race out of it because you had this little pack trying to catch up with that little pack. That got kind of interesting a little bit but when they all got together, to me it's not racing, it's just running," he added.

None of the Team Penske drivers survived the entire YellaWood 500 race and only Ryan Blaney is above the cutline, while Joey Logano and Austin Cindric are in the bubble.