Denny Hamlin agrees with NASCAR's decision not to penalize Kyle Larson for same violation as Chase Elliott

Questions of favoritism arose on Sunday during the Brickyard 400, as Kyle Larson seemingly avoided a penalty for the same violation Chase Elliott committed earlier in the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Elliott was controversially penalized for going above the white line while entering pit road, but when it seemed as if his Hendrick Motorsports teammate did the same thing, the No. 5 avoided any punishment. That infuriated some fans, who demanded answers for why Larson was able to continue unscathed.

Well, Denny Hamlin answered that question on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, believing Larson’s infraction was much different from the one Elliott was penalized for.

“I didn’t see anything wrong with Kyle’s,” Hamlin said, regarding the controversial moment. “Yeah, he was on the line, he wasn’t above it though, so I didn’t see anything wrong with Kyle’s merge there, onto the surface.

“I think the tie kinda goes to the runner, in that instance, so I think that on the line is fine, above it, obviously, was not.”

Evidently, there was no favoritism in that situation, but other drivers, such as Ryan Blaney, might feel differently about the end of the Brickyard 400. Still, Denny Hamlin believes Kyle Larson was in the right in this scenario. Drivers will certainly have to be more cognizant of that line during their next trip to Indianapolis.

Denny Hamlin updates health, reacts to hard wreck at Brickyard 400

Despite putting together a strong race at Indianapolis, Denny Hamlin wasn’t able to finish the race due to a late wreck. Going into the first overtime restart, the NASCAR veteran was collected in a fairly violent accident, and his afternoon ended in disappointment. 

Alas, Hamlin is still looking for a Brickyard 400 to complete his run of the crown jewel races in NASCAR. His bid for the win would end entering Turn 1 on the first overtime restart of the race, when John Hunter Nemechek moved up in front of Daniel Hemric, who was already there with the nose of his car.

Nemechek bounced off the inside wall between the track and pit road and then up the track, collecting multiple cars and slamming into the wall. Alex Bowman was also caught up in the mess. After leaving the care center, Hamlin spoke to the media. 

“I couldn’t see I just, there was a car coming across the track, I hit them,” Hamlin explained to Frontstretch. 

The restarts were causing drivers to take, take, take. That was a result of the difficulty passing on the track: “Because you couldn’t pass, yeah. We’re all just kinda running in a line there, saving fuel,” Hamlin added. “It’s like a speedway race, but we were just doing everything we could to get to the finish and couldn’t make it.” 

Denny Hamlin entered the race 20 points out of the regular season championship lead. He remains 4th in the standings, but is now trailing Kyle Larson by 43 points, as he’ll look to bounce back when the Cup Series returns on Aug. 11.

On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.