No penalties expected from NASCAR after heated Pocono incidents

We witnessed a lot of drama at Pocono Raceway during NASCAR‘s HighPoint.com 400. The race might’ve ended under caution, but we saw fireworks among multiple drivers.

Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin got heated after Hamlin pushed the No. 5 car up the track and into the wall coming out of a turn. Austin Dillon threw his helmet at Tyler Reddick’s car following a collision. Ryan Preece gave Corey LaJoie an earful — while LaJoie was still in his car — after late-race contact.

So, if you are a fan of emotional racing, Sunday’s event at Pocono was something to behold. And based on some of the actions from the drivers, you might expect NASCAR to hand down some punishments or penalties.

Instead, NASCAR is letting it all play out. Senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer explained the sport’s stance on the situations from Sunday.

“So when you come up short on that, for whatever reason, if you feel like you’ve been done wrong, you’re going to be to upset,” Sawyer told SiriusXM of the Hamlin-Larson incident, per NBC Sports. “You’re going to want to show your displeasure. … Those guys are professionals. I feel like they will handle that (moving forward) appropriately. If we feel like we need to get involved more, we will, but at this time I don’t see anything we need to do on our side.”

Sawyer also addressed the spat between Dillon and Reddick.

“When you get down to the end of the race and you’re in position to have a strong finish, totally understand the emotion, didn’t see anything there (that warranted a penalty),” Sawyer said. “We plan to have a conversation with both of those guys to make sure we’re in a good headspace as we go into Richmond. We’ve said it before … our drivers get very emotional, which is part of what is the draw for our fans.”

That’s probably the right call. This late in the season, drivers are chasing for a playoff spot. Things are going to get heated and emotional. Plus, it adds to the intrigue level for fans.

Denny Hamlin explains situation with Kyle Larson at Pocono

Many criticized Hamlin for his actions late in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400. In his latest episode of Actions Detrimental, the No. 11 driver — and winner at Pocono — explained what happened.

“I went into Turn 1 and, the key moment for me was getting clear of the 19 right before we get into Turn 1. So, I shot low, and the next thing I know — I go in there pretty deep — and the 5 goes in there and he just goes straight. And I’m like, ‘Oh s***.’ In that moment, I think I got a shot.

“It’s really, really tough because, this happens in the matter of half a second or one second, right? It’s super quick. So, I see him going up the racetrack and losing all his momentum, I just gas it. …

“So, I gas up, I get to the middle lane as quick as I can thinking I’m gonna clear him. Once I realize I’m not gonna clear him, I’m like, ‘Ah, s***.’ And, when that happened, I started lifting. I’m coming up, he’s holding his line and — I still contest we did not touch. … If it was contact, I certainly didn’t feel it.”

Although he did express some regret, Hamlin said he would not change how he drove Sunday. That probably will sit well with Larson.

“I didn’t love it, because it’s Kyle Larson and he’s a good friend of mine,” Hamlin said. “But also, I wouldn’t change anything. I really wouldn’t because I think about the opportunity for me to get 50, 600 for Toyota, break the record at the track. There’s just a lot of factors that go into it.”