In a dramatic turn of events in NASCAR’s ongoing charter wars, 23XI Racing, co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, along with Front Row Motorsports (FRM), has filed a federal anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin said of his mindset for Sunday's playoff race: "I hate to lose and certainly will not justify any excuses to losing. So I’m going to give it all I can.”

Denny Hamlin is famous for his playoff misfortunes. On Sunday at Talladega, he was finally on the other end, setting him up well in Round 2.

On a tumultuous Talladega Sunday when the postseason fortunes of many drivers diverged and scattered, Denny Hamlin may have had the wildest playoff swing in the right direction. The positive movement stemmed from a final pit stop that seemed to be Hamlin’s undoing,

NASCAR.com's Alex Weaver goes 1-on-1 with Denny Hamlin following an up-and-down day at Talladega Superspeedway.

Denny Hamlin benefitted from being nowhere near the wreck which wiped out almost the entire NASCAR Cup Series field at Talladega Superspeedway.