Following the Talladega Superspeedway race, a long-simmering rivalry flared up again as Denny Hamlin took aim at Ross Chastain for a move that, in his view, derailed the Toyota camp’s late-race momentum. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took a different stance, siding with Chastain and viewing the move through a broader lens.
Although the two first got into a spat with each other back in 2022, this time it erupted again when, with 25 laps to go, the Toyotas hit pit road ahead of the other manufacturers, positioning themselves to leapfrog the competition.
As Hamlin and his allies tried to carve through traffic, Chastain threw a block that stymied their charge, breaking their rhythm and dashing hopes of reeling in the Chevrolets and Fords.
Fuming on his podcast, Hamlin accused Chastain of trying to “get you to check up and cause chaos”, arguing that the move put the entire group in jeopardy.
But Dale Jr., speaking on his podcast, offered a different view. He said, “Do I like what he did? No. If I’m in Denny’s car, I’m pissed. Yeah.
“But if I’m not a racer… I’m just watching, do I want a couple of guys out there that are that crazy? Yes!” Defending Chastain and Hocevar as drivers who keep the sport lively, Junior made it clear: “We can’t be black flagging drivers for swerving or blocking.”
Are Steve Letarte and Dale Jr. on the same page regarding Chastain’s move?
Steve Letarte, while breaking down the race with Jeff Burton on Inside The Race, defended Chastain’s move, stating that it was the kind of calculated block every driver should make when required. From his perspective, it was simply a textbook defensive maneuver — no contact, no wreck, just hard racing.
He acknowledged that Hamlin had every reason to be upset, but remained confident that if the tables were turned, the #11 driver would have played the same card on Chastain.
However, Hamlin, on his podcast, admitted that if roles had been reversed, Chastain would have likely moved him out of the way and accepted no fault.
