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NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin threw fuel on the fire of his feud with the series on Monday when he called the results of Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway a “sham.”
Hamlin’s comments came on the latest episode of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast. They largely referred to the series’ handling of a record-setting 28-car crash late in the 500-mile race.
The Joe Gibbs Racing star finished 10th in the race. But winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was involved in the aforementioned accident and, by rule, should have been made to pit and repair damage suffered to one of the safety features of his car. Hamlin also referred to several other officiating inconsistencies.
Denny Hamlin Rails Against NASCAR’s Inconsistent Enforcement Of Rules
“You use all of your DVP clock to get the car fixed because you know you got one shot to make minimum speed. You’ve got cars that are limping around the racetrack. They know they can’t fix it. They’re just trying to make all the laps they can. And you got others, Chase Elliott brought it up, that didn’t even make DVP clock that should’ve been multiple laps down. But they weren’t,” Hamlin said at the 40:13 mark of the show.
“Then you got others that worked on their cars to avoid going a lap down because we’re sitting in turn two, not moving under yellow condition. This finishing order of Talladega was a sham at best,” he continued.
The “DVP” refers to the Damaged Vehicle Policy. The policy states that drivers involved in an accident have five minutes to make repairs to their car before they much meet minimum speed. If they do not do so, they are out of the race.
But after the 28-car incident on Sunday, NASCAR put out a red flag to temporarily halt the race. At that point, the DVP is paused and crews cannot work on cars. But when the race went back to yellow flag conditions, cars were still stopped on the backstretch while crews began to work on damaged cars.
Additionally, Stenhouse Jr. suffered extensive damage to his door, including the protective foam between the roll cage and the car’s outer body.
Here is a look at the door foam which is falling out of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing car in the inspection bay. Stenhouse took a shot to the door in the 28-car melee. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/56aoDzsHtm
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) October 7, 2024
Section 3.3.3.7 of the NASCAR Cup Series rule book states that:
- A. Energy absorbing (EA) foam blocks must be installed on the outside surface of the left and right side door
- B. Door foam that has been damaged or crushed must be replaced. Effective May 4, 2022, door foam that is missing skin (including all machined foams) must be replaced.
NASCAR did not make Stenhouse Jr. replace the door foam. He went on to win the race. So it sure seems like Hamlin is onto something here.
Hamlin’s comments come just a week after he and his team, 23XI Racing, sued NASCAR for anti-competitive practices.