Despite winning at the iconic Indianapolis circuit, Michael McDowell went into the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as a massive underdog. Many didn’t expect the Front Row Motorsports man to do any wonders after the first round. So naturally, the 38-year-old would definitely like to silence his critics, but things did not exactly as per his plan at Darlington.

While McDowell was struggling for most of the race, one man who was having a field day out there was Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been in good form this season and is considered to be a strong contender for the Cup Series title. Ahead of the Cup race, Hamlin won the Xfinity race at Darlington, taking his confidence sky high. But it didn’t well for Hamlin either, who could have easily suffered the same fate as McDowell.

The Darlington Crash That Took Down Four Playoff Drivers

Hamlin delivered a fine performance at Darlington. Despite not winning the race, he was one of the best drivers on track on the day as he won the first two stages convincingly. This means that the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has two playoff points in the bag, which will go a long way into the playoffs.

But one can’t help but wonder if Hamlin could have gone on and finished a lot higher up than 25th, perhaps even challenging for the win in the closing stages, had he not gotten caught up in the crash that ensued in front of him? It was unfortunate for him and Michael McDowell, who was taken out by Hamlin with 37 laps to go.

It was not Denny’s fault that McDowell crashed out of the race. The #11 driver was only taking evasive measures to save himself from a crash that happened right in front of him. At that moment, it is not possible for any driver to look in his mirrors to see what’s going on behind him.

It was all set off by a three-way battle between Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and McDowell teammate Todd Gilliland. Busch and Dillon are teammates at RCR while Gilliland is the #38 driver for Front Row Motorsports. In a bid to get ahead of them, Kyle Busch moved towards the outside, but he hit Gilliland right beside him, who went into the wall and lost complete control of his car.

The #38 slid into the middle of the track in a dangerous manner, forcing a number of cars to take evasive action. It is here that Denny Hamlin comes into the picture. Gilliland’s car was right in front of him and Hamlin had to move sharply to the right to avoid collision, but it was straight into the path of a charging Michael McDowell.

The two made heavy contact, which saw McDowell go into the wall, and Hamlin somehow managed to drive away from the chaos with a car that had taken a lot of punishment. Christopher Bell, who was behind McDowell, was also caught in the crossfire and even he suffered a collision.

Four playoff drivers were involved in the incident: Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell. But the only person who can arguably be blamed for causing it is Kyle Busch. It was his move into Gilliland that started off the whole chain of events, and fans were not happy with the veteran.

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Busch is one of the most experienced drivers on the track and he has been one of the most consistent in well over a decade. But his move on the #38 FRM car was not something that an experienced driver would do. It might have been a move to get ahead of his competition, but it was reckless.

Ultimately, it was Rowdy who caused Gilliland to get in Denny Hamlin’s way, who had to evade but found himself in the path of Michael McDowell. Busch might have escaped without any significant damage, but for McDowell, the consequences were extreme, as he could not even finish the race.

It might have been the end of Denny Hamlin’s race as well, but the #11 driver was lucky to be able to power on ahead and finish the race.

Now with two races left in the round of 16, the likes of Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch, among others, will look to pull off a victory and cement their place in the next round of the playoffs, exactly how Kyle Larson did on Sunday at Darlington.

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