NASCAR star Denny Hamlin claims he had no idea he caused Connor Zilisch wreck

Denny Hamlin has admitted fault over an incident at COTA this past weekend which ruined one NASCAR Cup Series driver's chance at a race win.

Connor Zilisch had twice fought through the field, first from his starting spot in the mid-20s and then again from the back of the field after Daniel Suarez spun him from seventh at the restart at the beginning of Stage 2.

Ross Chastain's loose wheel brought out a final caution with around 20 laps of the race remaining, with Zilisch all the way back up in fourth and looking the class of the field – only to be on the wrong end of a chain-reaction wreck started by Hamlin at the restart, getting stranded watching the field go through Turn 1 for the second time that afternoon.

Hamlin had actually called the race and his own tenth place finish 'like a win' after getting out of his car and in front of the media, calling it a 'first mistake-free road course for me in six years'.

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Hamlin: I was that guy this weekend

Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast the following day, he revealed that he had initially spoken without having a clue that he'd been the one to cause the teenage Trackhouse driver's misery.

Asked whether he thought the new points system – with no 'win and in' encouraging drivers to risk their own races and the races of everyone around them to lock in a postseason spot out of nowhere – had changed driving styles at COTA, Hamlin said: "It seemed calmer, it seemed calmer to me.

"I mean, short of the Zilisch thing in Turn 1 that – news flash! – I had no idea that I caused that! I had no idea. I just barely got in the back of Byron, I think, and then it ricocheted him, ricocheted him. I was that guy this weekend. God, that sucks.

"My goal this race was 'no incidents, no contact, no nothing'. And I thought I did, then I see at the end of the race and I'm like 'oh sh*t', actually I was part of that Turn 1 thing. Apologies to them.

"Connor...SVG is about to have company in the road course domination bracket. He had good speed but not great speed, and as the weekend went on he just kept getting better and faster. I think that we're gonna be talking about him for definitely a handful of races."