Andrew Ravens Wed, October 21, 2026 at 2:30 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Riley Herbst and Michael McDowell crashed together early in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway . Herbst's team owner, Denny Hamlin , said he would not object if it was payback. His problem was that Herbst wrecked himself, too.
Hamlin co-owns 23XI Racing , which fields Herbst's No. 35 Toyota. He talked about the crash on this week's episode of Actions Detrimental .
Herbst ran into the back of McDowell's No. 71 Chevrolet while they raced for 20th. The crash brought out the first caution. Herbst finished 32nd, and McDowell finished 36th.
Many fans saw the crash as a response to New Hampshire in August. Contact from McDowell spun Herbst into the wall in that race, and Herbst missed the next race at Daytona with a concussion. Harrison Burton drove the No. 35 in his place.
"Well, he absolutely ran in the back of McDowell, in a very similar fashion that McDowell ran into him," Hamlin said. "The difference is Herbst wrecked himself in the process."
"And if you paid attention to practice, Herbst had a top 10 car. And so that was not the brightest moment if it was an intentional payback, which I don't have an issue with," Hamlin said.
Hamlin said he wants Herbst to stand up for himself. He also accused McDowell of wrecking Herbst on purpose at New Hampshire.
"I don't think Riley should get bullied. He's been bullied a little bit by some guys," Hamlin said. "And I definitely did not approve of the McDowell wrecking him intentionally at New Hampshire and bumping the guy's head."
23XI had a strong weekend at Phoenix, and Tyler Reddick won the race for the team. Hamlin said the team's speed made the early crash disappointing.
"But you just got to do a little better job than that and not do it when you have a car that's been one of the better performing cars you've had all season," Hamlin said. "And obviously 23XI as a team was very good this weekend. Yeah. So that was disappointing."
A co-host noted that the caution gave Hamlin a chance to gain track position. Hamlin joked about it.
"Yeah. Yeah, that was nice. We gave him the old signal, the bat signal, need a caution," Hamlin said.
Herbst will join Legacy Motor Club in 2027 , driving the No. 84 Toyota. Corey Heim will take over the No. 35 at 23XI. The Cup Series races next at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday.
Source: Sports
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