Last Sunday’s race was a spectacle to watch. NASCAR returned to the Bowman Gray Stadium after 54 years, and the Madhouse lived up to its name. Roaring crowds filled the grandstands, with spectators hailing from 44 states, five countries, and three continents. Crashes dotted the race – like when William Byron and Ryan Preece collided on lap 79, or Josh Berry and Kyle Larson spun out. But Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott told a different story.

The two Cup Series rivals dominated the front row for most of the race. Chase Elliott led for the first 96 laps, after which Denny Hamlin took over for the next 28. Despite this hard-fought battle, neither resorted to aggressive means to get over the other. This clean racing impressed a veteran crew chief.

Denny Hamlin’s moves accrue respect

We all know of the times that Denny Hamlin faced off with Chase Elliott in the past. In 2017, Hamlin bumped Elliott out of the way en route to the front at Martinsville Speedway. After Kyle Busch won the race, Elliott sideswiped Hamlin’s car during the cooldown lap. Then in 2023, Elliott landed a penalty for deliberately wrecking Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fast forward to 2025, and the situation looks very different. The two drivers drove each other gracefully at the Cook Out Clash, going against the usual ‘Madhouse Mayhem’ that Bowman Gray presents.

This behavior enthralled Tommy Baldwin Jr., a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour fixture. He outlined his views on a recent episode of ‘Door, Bumper, Clear’. He highlighted Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick first. “I gained a lot of respect with Denny last night on how he raced. I know he fell back a little bit, but you know, I feel that both him and Reddick – they waited towards the end of the first stage to run the outside.”

Yet what left a mark with Baldwin was Hamlin and Chase Elliott’s equation. “But the way Chase and Denny raced each other was perfect – picture-perfect on how you show your kids how to race.”

Baldwin elaborated on how Elliott messed up a few times but soon rectified his posture. “I mean, Chase messed up a couple of times and moved, and got Denny out of the pocket… But Chase actually stopped what he was doing… let both of them gather back up and start racing again.”

Denny Hamlin smoothly let Ryan Blaney pass too – when the latter climbed the ladder from 23rd to second. “You can see the further he (Ryan) got up, the more respect he got. The guys were like, okay, he’s better than me, I’m gonna let him go.” Baldwin issued his verdict: “So there was a couple of guys that put on an exhibition of how you race last night.”

Denny Hamlin also admitted to yielding to a cleaner racing style.

Proving them wrong

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Well, given their colorful history fans would expect Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin to lunge at each other. On top of that, racing at the Bowman Gray can easily let out heated conflicts. However, Denny Hamlin proved both of these assumptions wrong – and he was aware of it. He seized the lead of the Clash race on lap 96, as Elliott fell back.

However, the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota faded on lap 126 when the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevy overtook it. Then Ryan Blaney charged forward with his Team Penske No. 12 Ford on lap 146, and Hamlin could not stop him either. He reckoned that the final restart on lap 121 after the seventh caution was the cause of his downfall.

Despite losing his momentum and the possibility of defending the Clash crown, Denny Hamlin could not be aggressive. He admitted recently, “When I went into the next corner, I’m like, it’s so cliché to just run back into him, I am not gonna do that. And so I didn’t. I’m like, I’m just gonna work him for a little while, and I just didn’t have it.”

He also tipped his hat to his rivals, Elliott and Blaney. “I thought that they were just a little better that second half than we were, along with the 12 was as well. We just have to get a little bit better, but overall, a good day for our Sport Clips Toyota.”

Evidently, Denny Hamlin overturned expectations of his ‘villain’ side popping out. We expect to see some marvelous racing when the Cup Series season officially kicks off at Daytona.