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Denny Hamlin was the second driver this season to receive a monumental penalty from NASCAR. Despite the severity of the penalty, Hamlin managed to maintain his win. However, why did NASCAR not penalize him more harshly?
Hamlin’s penalty carried over from the March race at Bristol. Hamlin won after a thrilling tire management race, beating out teammate Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR tears down and reseals race-winning engines at the end of their life cycle. However, Toyota Racing Development accidentally sent the engine back to its facility, where TRD tore it down, leaving NASCAR unable to properly analyize the engine.
“Each race-winning engine must be inspected by NASCAR once the race team determines that its life cycle is complete. In this instance, prior to presenting the engine to NASCAR for inspection, Toyota Racing Development disassembled and rebuilt the No. 11’s Bristol-winning race engine. Per the NASCAR Rule Book, this violation results in an L2 penalty to the race team and driver. Toyota Racing Development self-reported this violation.” — NASCAR
Though TRD took the blame for the incident, NASCAR didn’t hold back on the team, Crew Chief, and driver.
Hamlin was penalized 75 points, dropping him to 6th in the Cup Series standings and taking him out of Regular-Season Championship contention. He also lost ten playoff points, and the Bristol win no longer counts toward the Playoffs.
Hamlins’ Crew Chief Chris Gabehart was fined $100,000, while JGR also lost 75 owner points. It is a hefty tole JGR may not appeal, as Hamlin did not lose playoff eligibility. But could NASCAR have done more?
Many fans have pointed to NASCAR not disqualifying Hamlin as a bad call. However, the case as to why NASCAR didn’t do so is convencing.
Had Hamlin been disqualified, Martin Truex Jr. would be the race winner for Bristol—something many fans would like to see in his final year of full-time competition.
In Hamlin’s favor, a lack of a DQ could be due to this not being his fault or that of JGR. In a statement to the media, TRD President David Wilson said:
“Despite procedures being in place, Denny’s race-winning engine from Bristol was mistakenly returned to our Costa Mesa facility, disassembled and rebuilt instead of being torn down and inspected by NASCAR per the rulebook.” — David Wilson.
With TRD taking the blame for this and self-reporting it, NASCAR may have taken a lighter stance on JGR and Hamlin. Even more so, many in the industry stood up for the Toyota team and its driver, believing it was not intentional.
While many, like Earnhardt, believe there was no real reason for TRD or JGR to do this intentionally. NASCAR has Disqualified drivers for less, including Hamlin.
While Pocono 2022 was a post-race penalty, this is a post-post-race penalty. The long gap in time made NASCAR hesitant to take such an extreme stance.
While no extreme, NASCAR took an serious stance against what had happened to the engine.
NASCAR removed Hamlin’s playoff eligibility for the win, which in modern NASCAR means disqualifying Hamlin. He gets to keep the money, the trophy, and the digit in the record books. However, if Hamlin needs to win late in the playoffs, he no longer has that support.
While Hamlin not getting DQ’d doesn’t matter in the long run, it may come back up if Truex doesn’t win this year. But for now, the win stands, but what the win means is gone.
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