Denny Hamlin bemoans lack of officiating in motorsports after wild truck series finale

Denny Hamlin watched the final laps of the NASCAR Truck Series tick away in disgust, as it wasn’t the greatest moment for the sport.

Ben Rhodes didn’t win the race itself, but he did take home his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship. However, that’s far from the biggest story from Friday night.

Fellow title contenders Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar had business to handle with one another, and they took over the finish of the race, when it looked like Grant Enfinger was headed to his first title. That kicked off a wreck-fest at Phoenix, one that wouldn’t be settled until a fourth overtime.

Afterward, Hamlin took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with the way the season finished in the Truck Series, and it’s hard to argue with the Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman.

This is what happens when there’s no rules, no officiating. You get a product like this. “The show” has taken over US Motorsports and why it’s hard to take seriously.

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 4, 2023

“This is what happens when there’s no rules, no officiating,” Hamlin posted on X. “You get a product like this. ‘The show’ has taken over US Motorsports and why it’s hard to take seriously.”

It truly went from entertaining to embarrassing on Saturday. At one point, we couldn’t get around for one lap without wrecking, which put a damper on the final race of the season for the Truck Series.

Regardless, it wasn’t a disaster the entire time. It all began when the drama between Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim started, which kicked off the constant wrecking and cautions.

The race just fell apart as Hocevar spun out Heim. It made it tense. It looked like Heim would run away with it. Then, you put that behind you and it was a race between Rhodes and Enfinger. 

It made a lot of drivers, aside from Hamlin, and NASCAR figures disappointed to see the race spiral into wrecks and restarts. Tyler Reddick had choice words for Hocevar. Heim then got revenge on a wreck, but that caused more controversy. 

Moreover, Enfinger was leading and then these restarts began to pile up. Rhodes was able to beat him out. That’s when Enfinger took a wild Hail Mary and got four tires on a pit stop. During all of these restarts, the 23 truck moved up with the freshest tires on the track. It was an amazing finish after four restarts to end the race.

In the end, Grant Enfinger couldn’t track down Ben Rhodes, and that’s how it ended at Phoenix. Hopefully we won’t see a repeat in the Xfinity Series on Saturday, or the Cup Series on Sunday in the desert.

On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.