Update: Denny Hamlin Narrowly Escape Austin Dillon’s Playoff Misery Despite NASCAR Stripping Off His Points
It’s not often that a team is punished for doing something productive. NASCAR has a rule that requires owners to inspect all championship cars before removing the engine. However, Toyota Racing took the development of the engine and Denny Hamlin won at Bristol and left before the test. Although the race took place months ago on March 17, NASCAR recently took steps to extend the penalties.
It was a similar situation to Austin Dillon when he was removed from his playing area just days after being announced as the winner of the FireKeepers Casino 400. Although Dillon was not fined for months afterwards , will kill any chance of making it to the finals. Even with 2 races to go and his performance throughout the season, winning his race will be a long shot.
Now that Dillon has lost his playoff spot due to a two-car penalty, does that mean Denny Hamlin’s top 16 finish is still in jeopardy?
How Toyota hurt Denny Hamlin
NEWS: Denny Hamlin gets crushing NASCAR L2 penalty for an engine rules violation committed by Toyota. Hamlin loses 75 points, 10 playoff points, crew chief Chris Gabehart fined $100k.
TRD tore down and rebuilt one of Hamlin's winning engines before it was inspected by NASCAR,…
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) August 22, 2024
Jeff Glock just reported that Denny Hamlin has been fined for violating NASCAR’s L2 engine rules. Yes, Denny Hamlin will be fined for this and Bristol won’t win. But unlike Austin Dillon, it wasn’t the only race Hamlin won this season. Fortunately for Hamlin, he won the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond, and won the 2024 Würth 400.
So with that JGR, it’s safe to say that Denny Hamlin will continue to push for a shot at the championship. . But it is not easy. 75 points and 10 points over Denny Hamlin thanks to Toyota’s racing development efforts. Not even the team’s crew chief, Chris Gabhart, has been fined $100,000. Although these mistakes will challenge the final, Hamlin will fight harder than ever.
It is possible to win, because it is the same power. Even though Denny Hamlin has yet to win a championship, he’s getting close. He has made the finals every year for the past ten years, including a top four finish. This leads hopeful fans to believe that Denny Hamlin wins the Cup Series, not “if” but “when.”
Despite the fact that Denny Hamlin and Giger did not face a penalty, the rules of the NASCAR state that the team is responsible for this problem. After hearing this story, TRD took responsibility for their mistake and issued an apology.
Toyota takes full responsibility and thanks everyone involved
Toyota Racing Development is responsible for the fines and penalties that Denny Hamlin faced, and they say it was wrong. They released a statement detailing how Hamlin’s winning Bristol engine was returned to Toyota’s Costa Mesa facility to be scrapped.
The team did rebuild the engine; however, that came without a tear-down inspection from NASCAR. After explaining the situation from their end, TRD assured NASCAR and the fans, “Although we know with absolute certainty that the engine was legal and would have passed inspection, we left NASCAR in an impossible position because they were not given the opportunity to properly inspect our engine.
We have reviewed our processes and have implemented several additional steps to ensure that this never happens again.”
Toyota took complete responsibility for this mistake, as they ended their statement with an apology to Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart, Coach Gibbs, and the team. The apology was further extended to NASCAR and fans, as they disappointed everyone by violating a rule.
Is being marked as a mistake, but this makes the situation for JGR much harder while walking into the playoffs. Yes, Denny Hamlin will still make it to the finals, and fans will be happy in the final series to come. Will Denny Hamlin win the Cup this year? Only time will tell.
