Denny Hamlin gave Kyle Larson a lot of credit for how he won the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway while also suggesting that he had a lot of help in doing so.
To wit, there was a widespread belief and reporting on Sunday that Chevrolet teams were taking the green flag with the primary goal of supporting Larson in every move he made. Certainly, it looked that way with William Byron pushing Larson the most number of stage points over the first half of the race.
There were points of the race where Byron was pushing Larson on the bottom with lap down Ross Chastain jamming up the top side. At the same time, Chastain stood to benefit from this strategy too as it would put him back at the tail of the field on the lead lap if the caution had come out.
Chastain ultimately did get back on the lead lap and was in position to give Larson the push he needed to the win on the final lap and even got a top five out of it, himself.
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Why Chase Elliott has removed his name from NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Ballot Hamlin didn’t entirely begrudge that manufacturer strategy but did say on his Actions Detrimental podcast that it contributed to Larson winning the race and delivering a near knockout blow to everyone else in the Chase for the Championship.
“He's doing what he's told,” Hamlin said of Chastain. “So as a driver, you're the lowest on the totem pole when it comes to team orders or manufacturer orders. I’m going to put Hendrick at the top, then below that is Chevrolet, and below that is Trackhouse. Below that is the crew chief and then below that is the driver -- that is the totem pole in which (Chastain) is answering to. They have no choice.
Hamlin said the Chevrolet performance center is dictated by Rick Hendrick.
“That just is what it is,” Hamlin said. “And so, you have to suck at the teat of the master. I mean, that's just the way this thing works. And I'm sorry, but that is the truth. And so, you just have no choice but to do what you're told because the way they've set that whole program up is it runs through the master.
“That's why in my mind, I don't believe anyone will ever be Tier One with Chevy other than Hendrick because (they) control it. And so as long as you control it, you control how that information gets shared.”
Hamlin said he does not believe RCR gets the same level of information as Hendrick from Chevrolet.
“It's a hard truth that not a lot of people are going to love, but it is the truth,” Hamlin said. “And so to bring it all back, people like Ross, they have no choice but to just do what they are told.
“And unfortunately, superspeedway racing has gotten to that point, but the 5 car has earned his right to be the number one guy that everyone else has to look out for, even if you're not actually associated in the same race team as he is.”