Denny Hamlin has suggested that NASCAR should target manufacturers rather than teams and drivers for penalties following the conduct breaches by Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Austin Dillon during Sunday’s contentious Round of 8 elimination race.
The drama unfolded in the final laps, with NASCAR determining that the trio engaged in race manipulation and actions detrimental to stock car racing. Dillon and Chastain, both driving for Chevrolet, seemingly declined to pass Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, thereby enhancing his playoff prospects.
Meanwhile, Wallace slowed down on the last lap allowing Championship 4 hopeful Christopher Bell to overtake. Wallace later claimed a compromised tire was to blame.
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As a team owner, Hamlin refuted any wrongdoing and proposed on his ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast that NASCAR should impose penalties on manufacturer/owner series points to prevent future controversies. Despite his suggestions, NASCAR has already imposed a 50-point deduction and a $100,000 fine on each driver involved.
Hamlin expressed uncertainty about the solution but emphasized the need for action. “I don’t know. I don’t know what you do about it,” he said.
“Fine them. Manufacturer/owner series points. Because the manufacturers really do care about that quite a bit. But we’ve got to do something to reel this back in because it’s happening way, way too often.”
Wallace saw his disappointing season end in a points deduction after being found in breach of NASCAR’s Member Conduct of the Rule Book at Martinsville (
(Image: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images))
In addition to the points deduction and fines, various crew chiefs – including Phil Surgen, Justin Alexander, and Bootie Barker, along with their spotters Brandon McReynolds, Brandon Benesch, and Freddie Kraft as well as team executives Tony Lunders, Keith Rodden, and Dave Rogers – were all handed suspensions for the 2024 season finale at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona.
While NASCAR has turned a deaf ear to Hamlin’s suggestions, he elaborated on why there might be a reluctance to penalize manufacturers. “The manufacturers, I’m part of one, but they ruined superspeedway racing,” Hamlin stated. “I don’t know what you do about this, because I mean NASCAR’s not going to do anything with the manufacturers because that is their bread and butter.
“They do not want to do anything that upsets manufacturers because they’ve been trying for a decade now or better to get another one in our sport, and they certainly cannot afford for one to leave. What we’re doing here, for those listening, is we are speculating.
“The only thing I can tell you for a fact – because I am part of the Toyota Racing – is Toyota Racing never, not once this week, told 23XI to do anything for JGR. They were not involved whatsoever. I’ve never been, I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a conversation saying, ‘If this happens, then you have to do this.’
“They’ve never said that as a manufacturer. Even on superspeedways. They’ve left it up to the teams, ‘You guys figure this out. We’re going to provide you what we provide you, but we hope you work together,’ but that’s it.
“There’s never been any rules, and I can only speak for Toyota because I’m part of it. There’s never been any rules that Toyota has laid out to say, ‘This is what we want you to do.’ Ever.”
NASCAR maintains that preserving the integrity of its sport is paramount, which was the driving force behind the penalties issued to the drivers and teams.
As the curtain falls on the current season, the NASCAR Cup Series Championship reaches its peak this Sunday, presenting a spectacular showdown among Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, and William Byron in the Championship 4.
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