Denny Hamlin precedent sets up NASCAR defining moment regarding Ross Chastain

NASCAR veteran turned NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton thinks we’re witnessing a transformative time in the sport at the moment.

All the talk recently has been centered around the polarizing Ross Chastain. Whether or not he needs to be reeled in a bit, and if someone needs to take him out of a race to teach him a lesson.

While some believe it all starts within him own team, and car own Justin Marks should press Chastain to change, Burton thinks that the wheelman’s success thus far doesn’t make that the best option.

“The great question is, does [Trackhouse Team Owner] Justin Marks want him to be different? I mean think about it, like he’s up-front every week,” started Burton. “He’s contending for wins almost every week. The guy runs up-front. He leads laps. He does what he’s needing to do.

“Does he need to change some things so that he can get some wins and some finishes? That’s probably what the discussion is. The discussion is probably not, ‘Hey, I want you to worry about what these other competitors think. That’s the decision that Ross and Justin have to make.”

However, Burton likened the situation to when Denny Hamlin was penalized for admitting he took Chastain out at Phoenix earlier this season. The NASCAR veteran believes a dangerous precedent was set, and now it’s impossible to deal with the matter on-track.

“It’s a confusing time in NASCAR,” added Burton. “We had a driver that admitted to putting another driver in a bad situation in Denny Hamlin, and they penalized him. So what do you do? What is the recourse as drivers? It’s a difficult time. There was a time in NASCAR where you’d just go wreck him. I would say I wrecked him. You can’t do that now. They just fined Denny Hamlin. So what is the recourse? And that’s what I think, when I said it was difficult for everybody in the garage, that’s what I’m talking about. How do you handle this, what do you do? It’s a defining moment.

“Honestly, some of it’s got to come from NASCAR. They’ve got to tell the drivers what they can and can’t do. NASCAR’s got to step in or not. But you’ve got to do one of the two. You can’t do both.”

So will NASCAR step in and try to help Ross Chastain see the error of his ways, or will they turn a blind eye when a driver eventually does? Whatever happens, the sport hasn’t been this hot in a long while, and it’ll be fascinating to see how it turns out.