Denny Hamlin addresses impacts of NASCAR penalty for engine teardown issue

Denny Hamlin knows the impact of his penalty will be big for him and his team going forward. While speaking to reporters on Friday, Hamlin talked about how the penalty will impact his run to a NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“You celebrate these one-point stage victories and race victories so much because you know that man every round I’ve got that,” Hamlin said, per Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports. “When I look at like we’re in contention for the regular season, that’s gone. …[Ryan] Blaney wasn’t going to reach us in points. At the worst, we were going to make fourth, we could go back to eighth/ninth. It’s not just those 10 points it’s the seven/eight others that we’re going to miss out on every round.

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“Cumulative, it could be 50 or so points. That’s the gut punch. It’s like ‘Damnit.’ This format rewards regular-season excellence. It allows you to have not a perfect day and still be able to race for a championship. But now I’m kind of back in the middle there it’s like you know, I’m vulnerable in some spots.”

Hamlin and his No. 11 team were informed by Toyota Racing Development that they were penalized for an engine infraction. This result was Hamlin losing 75 regular-season points and 10 playoff points and his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, being fined $100,000. NASCAR also announced that Hamlin’s victory at Bristol Motor Speedway does not count towards his postseason eligibility.

Denny Hamlin ready to bounce back after penalty

TDR self-reported to NASCAR that the winning engine from the March 17 race had not followed NASCAR’s post-race protocol. The engine was disassembled and rebuilt instead of being torn down and inspected by officials.

Hamlin was third in the NASCAR regular season standings, but the penalty dropped him to sixth. And instead of having 21 playoff points, Hamlin now has 11.

“It’s just really hard,” Hamlin said. “It’s really hard in this kind of format when you work so hard in the regular season to get all those bonus points. It’s really tough to see it just wiped away. But it’s part of it and we’ve got to just overcome now.”

“If we can get hot and win some races, it won’t hurt as bad, right?” Hamlin added. “We could get back to a decent number for playoff points for the first round, second round, third round. But yeah, there’s always an opportunity, and certainly the tracks line up nicely for us.”