Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin addressed the media for the first time since he and his team received a massive penalty Thursday after NASCAR ruled his Bristol, Tenn. race-winning engine was not subsequently properly handled according to regulations.
The penalty included the loss of 75 driver and owner championship points – which drops Hamlin from third place in the standings to sixth place, 103 points behind leader, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. Hamlin also lost 10 Playoff points and the team suffered a $100,000 fine.
“Each race-winning engine must be inspected by NASCAR once the race team determines that its life cycle is complete,’’ NASCAR shared in its ruling. “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 Racing Development (TRD) USA came forward and shared with NASCAR that it had “mishandled” the engine by re-building it before presenting it to NASCAR.
“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,’’ said TRD President David Wilson. “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.
Even though TRD has accepted blame for the situation, Hamlin allowed that it was a big competitive punch to him. Two days ago, he was fighting for the regular season championship and now with the penalty, he’s contending for a top-five finish in the standings during a season that includes three victories.
“You know you celebrate these one-point stage victories and race victories so much because you know every round, I’ve got that,’’ Hamlin said of the stiff penalty. “We were in contention for the regular season (championship), that’s gone.”
“… that’s the gut-punch that this format rewards regular season excellence but it allows you not to have a perfect day and still race for the championship and now I’m kind of back there in the middle.’’
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
