Cup: Logano/Hamlin Get Together, Trigger Big One at EchoPark

What’s Happening?

Things started to get real for the NASCAR Cup Series drivers as we got inside 40 laps to go. We got our first Big One of the afternoon at Lap 224. It was triggered as the field came out of Turn 4 and entered the dogleg. Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, both whose cars were upset by the dirty air, got together. Logano was able to scoot on virtually unscathed. However, Hamlin turned in front of the pack, collecting several stars and heavy hitters. Here’s what happened:

• Taking a look at it, it looks like Joey Logano got loose and let out of the throttle. Initially, it looks like he saved it. However, he was still barely hanging on. He got loose again and once again let off. Hamlin had nowhere to go.
• Hamlin, reacting to Logano, overcorrected and ricocheted off the outside SAFER Barrier. This bounced him down into traffic, where he collected the likes of Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher, A. J. Allmendinger, Connor Zilisch, and several others.
• It has been a bad offseason for Denny Hamlin. He lost the 2025 championship in devastating fashion, he was in the thick of a lawsuit against NASCAR with Michael Jordan, he tragically lost his father in a house fire in December, and now he has two DNF finishes to start his 2026 campaign. After starting the season with three wild card races, one could only imagine that Hamlin is excited to get back to “normal racing” in a couple weeks when NASCAR heads to Phoenix.

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