NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin has been slammed with a severe penalty that has dramatically affected his standing in the 2024 season. Hamlin was hit with a 75-point deduction from his season standings and an additional 10-point reduction in playoff points due to an engine violation tied to Toyota Racing Development. Talking to the press, he’s now admitted his incredible disappointment over what happened.
The crux of the issue arose when Hamlin’s engine, after a victorious race at Bristol, was reused at Darlington against NASCAR’s regulations. These stipulate that engines must be dismantled for inspection post-race. Instead, this engine was sent back to Toyota for reconstruction and reuse, a deviation self-reported by Toyota.
The consequences of this penalty are deeply personal for Hamlin. He experienced a considerable drop from third to sixth in both the regular and playoff point standings, significantly impeding his chance at the championship.
Reflecting on the situation, Hamlin expressed his disillusionment.
“This definitely tops it for sure because it was something that didn’t happen in a certain moment, right?
“It was, ‘Hey we gotta go back to tell you what happened a while ago.’ But, I mean, should I be surprised? I don’t think so.
“But I mean, it’s uh, I don’t know, it’s hard to not feel and be negative in the moment and I am in the moment. I feel negative about it.
“Not about the decision or anything like that, just about our season and potentially what it could or couldn’t do,” he told Dustin Long of NBC Sports (below).
#NASCAR … Denny Hamlin has had many bizarre situations impact his title hopes through the years. Add this week’s penalty to the list. Says Hamlin: “It’s hard to not feel and be negative in the moment and I am in the moment.” pic.twitter.com/9vad0NBz4w
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) August 23, 2024
Hamlin’s approach to the remainder of the season is therefore clear-cut. He plans to concentrate on winning the upcoming races to secure playoff points and mitigate the effects of the penalty on his championship aspirations.
During a pre-qualifying NBC broadcast, quoted by 5Goats, Hamlin outlined his strategy.
“No, we go each week to try to win,” “We’ll do that these next two weeks and then the 10 weeks after that. It just takes away a lot of the effort and hard work we put in to get the bonus points, obviously takes away our room for error in the playoffs.”
Despite being a top performer, Hamlin has not secured a win for quite the duration before this issue, focusing more scrutiny on his performance and the potentially lasting effects these penalties will have on his morale.
On top of the penalties given to Hamlin, crew chief Chris Gabehart has also been fined $100,000.
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