"Very low percentage move" - Denny Hamlin questions Michael McDowell's strategy following Ryan Blaney incident in New Hampshire

Veteran NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin criticized Michael McDowell's ambitious move on Ryan Blaney in the final laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hamlin said he didn't expect such a "crazy move" from McDowell for second place.

With nine laps left in the USA Today 301, McDowell and Christopher Bell started on the row. The latter stole the lead, while the #34 Front Row Motorsports driver slipped back and was battling Blaney for second position. He drove deep into Turn One on the damp track, taking out the reigning champion.

Michael McDowell was apologetic to Ryan Blaney but argued that he had to make the "low percentage move" to win the race and book his playoff berth. McDowell suggested that his position in the standings forced him to take the risk for a potential race win.

On his podcast Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin discussed the incident, siding with Blaney, and deemed the move crazy for the second spot. He added that making such a move for the race lead was justifiable.

"The only thing is he didn't crash with the #20 [Bell], I thought if he was gonna crash if was because he drove in on the #20. And then the explanation to me though of 'Well I gotta do everything I can because I'm in this situation'. You're not going to do it from third place though, you're not gonna win the race from third," Denny Hamlin said [at 35:45].

"I side with Ryan on this one, very low percentage move and it wasn't the move to win the race it was for second place. You got to get to second before you can make a crazy move," he added.

Michael McDowell's desperate move put Ryan Blaney out of contention for the race win, dropping him to 25th position while McDowell was classified 15th at the end of the race.

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Denny Hamlin quips about Michael McDowell's front-row start

The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing quipped that he anticipated the wreck before the green flag after realizing that Michael McDowell was restarting on the front row with his teammate Christopher Bell.

Denny Hamlin jokingly suggested that he knew sparks were going to fly on the front row of the grid, knowing McDowell's desperate attempts to clinch the race win. He said on his podcast [at 35:20]:

"You should play my radio before we went green. When they told me that the #34 was on the front row with the #20, I literally said 'Uh, oh, I see this one coming.' And then first corner caution's out, #34! Saw that one coming... I knew sparks were gonna fly once they gave me the front row lineup.

Michael McDowell recently triggered in the 'Big one' at Talladega on the final lap. Leading the pack to the checkered flag, he swerved twice to block Brad Keselowski and ended up wrecking half the field. Denny Hamlin's 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick walked away with the victory.