Denny Hamlin admits he's more worried about playoff Round of 12

Denny Hamlin was blunt regarding whether his strategy will have to change over the course of the playoffs due to an unfortunate penalty his team suffered.

While Hamlin felt the brunt of NASCAR’s punishment, he had nothing to do with the engine violation that saw him docked playoff points that he worked hard to accumulate over the course of 2024. Now, via the latest episode of Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin, he’s looking ahead to what he can control, and how to attain his first Cup Series title, even with the penalty on his mind.

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“I need to go win Kansas. Yeah, need to go win Kansas. That’ll be my mindset, for sure,” Hamlin said, regarding how the penalty will change his strategy in the playoffs. “But you know, if not, then I’ll, you know — I’m going to do the best I can, every single week.

“But obviously, it’s just a huge setback, with this type of format. It’s just — it’s a killer.”

Alas, it’s a sound strategy from Hamlin, as he should get through Round 1 without much issue. However, those playoff points would’ve come in handy in the later rounds of the playoffs, where the racing can be unpredictable and lead to uncomfortable circumstances for even the best in the sport.

With his cushion evaporating in one fell swoop, Hamlin would be well served to win at Kansas, like he believes he must. Still, it’s easier said than done, and he’ll have to contend with the top competitors in NASCAR at the top of their game. It’ll be far from an easy feat to pull off.

Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team won’t make any excuses, but they’re now forced to completely readjust their strategy for the playoffs over the next couple of weeks. However, if there’s one team that’s up to the challenge, it’s them. We’ll see if they can get the job done, even after the penalty they’ve been hit with.

Kevin Harvick reacts to massive Denny Hamlin NASCAR penalty

Moreover, Denny Hamlin was Kevin Harvick’s championship pick for basically the entire season. However, the penalty has given him a bit of pause, as he tried to let the news sink in during an episode of the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast.

“Obviously the 11 car had the issues with the engine and a tech issue with everything that was going on from March, April,” Harvick said. “Major, major implications for Denny Hamlin from a points standpoint and regular-season points, the win bonus points got taken away. So there were huge implications from Denny Hamlin’s side.”

For some, exactly what happened with Hamlin’s engine fiasco remains a mystery. Harvick did his best to break it down in an easily digestible fashion.

“So basically the engines have to go through this rotation of how many times you have to run them, and if you win a race you have to take the engine back to NASCAR to be inspected,” Harvick added. “Well they never took the engine back to NASCAR because they used an engine that… I better slow down.

“They used an engine that won Bristol. That engine doesn’t have to be inspected until you’re done running it through the mandatory cycle of races that you have to run it. So when they got to the end of the cycle of races that they were supposed to run this engine at, it would technically have to go back to NASCAR to be inspected for the win at Bristol. It just goes for the win. It didn’t go for the win to get inspected, and apparently they turned themselves in because they rebuilt the motor without the motor going back to get inspected.”

Of course, Toyota Racing Development took responsibility for the issue, seemingly absolving Denny Hamlin and his team for any wrongdoing. Still, they’ll still suffer the consequences of the mishap, and that’s something the No. 11 team will have to overcome if they want to win a title in 2024.

On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this article.