Denny Hamlin reacts to Joey Logano penalty at Phoenix

Joey Logano had one of the fastest cars this past Sunday at Phoenix, especially early on in Stage 1. Logano started on the front row and took the lead away from William Byron.

Then came Lap 18, when NASCAR penalized him for the previous restart. Logano was penalized for a restart violation after he dipped below the yellow line before completely crossing the start/finish line. The reigning Cup Series champion was forced to relinquish the lead and serve a pass-through penalty. While close, Denny Hamlin said it was a penalty and NASCAR had to call it.

“It’s a penalty,” Hamlin said on Monday’s Actions Detrimental podcast. “… When you play tennis, that’s why they have that hawk eye system. When the ball touches the line, it’s not nitpicking. You have to draw a line somewhere and there’s actually a line on the track.”

Here’s the move that got Logano a penalty pic.twitter.com/GoOvuSADSt

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Joey Logano sounds off on ‘ridiculous penalty’ at Phoenix

Logano quickly made known he felt NASCAR made a bad call: “No way,” Logano shouted over his radio. He added, “It was freakin’ nothing. That is ridiculous.”

In the rulebook, there is a section that governs restarts and the inside line. Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports shared the rule on X.

“At oval track events, once the green flag has been displayed at the initial start and all restarts, all vehicles must maintain their respective track position/lane established by the front row above the apron as determined by the inside painted line until they have crossed the start/finish line,” the rule states.

The penalty forced Logano to turn to his two sets of red option tires earlier than he would have liked. While Logano regained the lead and showed his speed, not having those option tires late in the race cost him. Logano finished P13; solid all things considered, but it could have been a much better day if not for the restart violation.

“Obviously our strategy took a hit with the penalty early on,” Logano said after the race, via Nate Ryan of NBC Sports. “That took us out of, at least, a pair of top 10 stage finishes. We had top 10 speed all day but had to settle for 13th. We’re looking forward to Vegas and building off of our last trip there.”