The crazy finish at Talladega in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race was the main headline from the weekend. The Xfinity Series race and its ending were equally entertaining with Jesse Love holding off a double-overtime challenge from multiple opportunistic drivers, including Hailie Deegan, to win the race. The AM Racing driver recorded a career-best 12th-place finish on the 2.66-mile superspeedway but moments after the race was over, the 22-year-old wasn’t happy and the source of her frustration was fellow Ford driver Riley Herbst.
@HailieDeegan and her crew were not happy after @TALLADEGA because they felt fellow Ford driver @rileyherbst had done her dirty. Here's the radio communication. pic.twitter.com/9j9R4tmWU5
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) April 21, 2024
“I don’t know why the 98 did that at all,” Deegan’s spotter said over the team radio. “That was a really bad move. Good job all day. We capitalized like we needed to.”
“10-4,” she replied and paused. “F***!” the driver said, expressing her frustration.
“He wasn’t ever going to stay with us,” her spotter suggested. “That’s his MO. P12. Good job all day.”
“Are you f******* kidding me? 12th?” Deegan said in disbelief. A minute later, she called out Herbst and his move. “I can’t believe the 98 did that.”
“I can,” another member of her team said. “He does it every time. It don’t matter who it is. He does it to everybody. Every time he will not help anybody out. He’s all about himself.”
Denny Hamlin Offers His Opinion on the Deegan-Herbst Move
Denny Hamlin isn’t one that sugarcoats what’s on his mind. He calls them like he sees them. That’s what he did on his April 22 “Actions Detrimental” episode when discussing the move by Riley Herbst on Hailie Deegan during that final lap at Talladega.
“But it was just utter chaos from everyone behind,” Hamlin said on the podcast. “Like Riley, instead of pushing Hailie Deegan, he went to pass her. He had a massive run, and then like in that instance, you got to push the car in front of you to keep your run going. Just when he comes up, just push her because that keeps his momentum going. It gains her momentum. You’re using her to keep advancing your position.
“So when does he then pull out and try to pass?” show co-host Jared Allen questioned.
“Well, he probably should push her to where then she gets beside — she probably would have been up beside Jesse love or whoever it was — I think she was probably third or fourth or something like that. So you use her to advance herself to the next group of cars and then the next group of cars. And, it’s not all Riley. I’m saying it’s all the whole top 10 was just so disorganized that it created kind of an easy win for Jesse Love because he never really had to defend anything.”
Joey Logano Weighs In on Deegan-Herbst Debate
Joey Logano doesn’t host his own podcast but does make weekly appearances on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. On his April 23 visit to “The Morning Drive,” the two-time Cup champion was asked for his perspective on the hot topic of conversation.
🚨 TUNE-IN ALERT 🚨
𝘽𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙡 is LIVE on #TMDNASCAR this morning at 9 ET.@joeylogano will recap @TALLADEGA, look ahead to @MonsterMile, and take your calls! ☎️
LIVE → https://t.co/1aUirPWIgB pic.twitter.com/arxm9daqQA
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) April 23, 2024
“If I’m behind a car that I don’t feel comfortable behind it — I’m not saying Hailie Deegan was this at all, because, like I said, I didn’t see it, so take that piece out — but I’m just saying in general, if I’m behind a car that is a little squirrelly, that’s kind of moving around a little more than I like it, or it is somebody that hasn’t been up in a leading position before, and is not going to make the moves to make the win, you’re out.
“First chance I can get you out, yeah, I’m going to shuffle you out of there because I want to win the race. I’m not here to help anybody. No. I’m there to win. And so you’re going to put yourself around the cars that are going to help you win. And like I said, I’m not saying Hailie was that at all because I don’t know that, but from my own experience, that is definitely the case.”