NASCAR
Denny Hamlin Docked Playoff, Regular Season Points For Illegal Engine Teardown
One of the championship favorites for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series has just been dealt a major Playoff hurdle. Denny Hamlin’s race-winning engine from Bristol in March was wrongly taken back to Toyota Racing Development rather than to NASCAR inspection. As a result, Denny Hamlin and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 team have been struck of 10 Playoff points, 75 drivers’ and owners’ points, and crew chief Chris Gabehart faces a $100,000 fine.
“Each race-winning engine must be inspected by NASCAR once the race team determines that its life cycle is complete,” a NASCAR statement said. “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. Per the NASCAR Rule Book, this violation results in an L2 penalty to the race team and driver. Toyota Racing Development self-reported this violation.”
Toyota soon released the following quote from their President, David Wilson. “As the engine builder for our partner NASCAR Cup Series teams, TRD is solely responsible for the handling and disposition of all our engines pre- and post-race. Despite procedures being in place, Denny’s race winning engine from Bristol was mistakenly returned to our Costa Mesa facility, disassembled and rebuilt instead of being torn down and inspected by NASCAR per the rulebook. 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. TRD takes full responsibility for this grievous mistake, and we apologize to Denny, Chris, Coach Gibbs, the entire JGR organization, NASCAR and our fans.”
Pending any appeal, this points loss drops Hamlin from third to sixth in the regular season championship. The Bristol win is now effectively encumbered, with the removal of Playoff bonus points. These are the minumum penalties handed out under an L2 violation. JGR has yet to say whether or not they will appeal this ruling by NASCAR.
Should these penalties stand, Hamlin’s team is virtually on their back foot to start the Playoffs. Hamlin was eyeing one of the top seeds thanks to his three wins and high regular season championship result. Now, the No. 11 will likely be middle of the pack following Darlington next week. The Playoff schedule still falls in an advantageous order for Hamlin. This entire team is now behind the eight ball thanks to a costly error committed by their manufacturer.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
