NASCAR has been doling out penalties heavily in recent weeks. After Austin Dillon lost his playoff spot last weekend for intentional wrecking, the governing body has now taken action against Denny Hamlin.
Denny Hamlin and the #11 team are facing L2 penalties for violating engine regulations. This penalty results in Hamlin losing 75 points and 10 crucial playoff points.
The issue stemmed from a mistake by Toyota Racing Development (TRD), which put Hamlin in a tough position. NASCAR requires that each race-winning engine be inspected once the team deems its lifecycle complete. TRD reported the problem to NASCAR.
NASCAR’s statement explained, “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. According to the NASCAR Rule Book, this violation results in an L2 penalty for the race team and driver.”
However, this penalty has dropped him to 6th place, 103 points behind the leader, Tyler Reddick. He’s now out of the running for the regular-season championship and the 15 bonus playoff points that come with it.
The only silver lining is that Hamlin will still compete in the playoffs, but he will start with a deficit of -10 playoff points, which he earned through race and stage wins. He will need to catch up to competitors like Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, and Ryan Blaney.
Understandably, Hamlin is likely very frustrated by this situation, which was caused by an error outside his control. His best chance to mitigate the damage is to secure more playoff points in the upcoming races at Daytona and Darlington.
