Denny Hamlin asserts Austin Dillon deserved the “unprecedented penalty” for Richmond drama

Denny Hamlin is okay with the severity of penalty given to Austin Dillon for wrecking race leaders to win the Cook Out 400.

Denny Hamlin asserts Austin Dillon deserved the “unprecedented penalty” for Richmond drama

Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon (Via IMAGO)

The Cup series race at Richmond is still the talk of the garage, as with RCR appealing the NASCAR penalty ruling anything can happen. Austin Dillon wrecked race leaders Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to win the race last Sunday. NASCAR wasn’t ready to let the Chevy drivers’ actions slide and stripped him of the automatic playoff entry as punishment

Now Denny Hamlin, who was one of the victims of the incident and among the driver who was most vocal about the need to dr5wing the line has responded to the penalty given to Austin Dillon for his desperate move. He reckons the No:3 Chevy driver got the statement penalty the situation called for from NASCAR.

He pointed out that Richmond finish was something that he has never seen in the sport and the unprecedented penalty it got was right because the situation demanded it. Denny Hamlin believes that the premier stock car racing sanctioning body sometimes has to respond in such unprecedented manner.

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I mean, I think that yeah, I feel like I saw something that I’ve never seen before last week. And we saw an unprecedented penalty. But when you see something unprecedented, you sometimes have to respond in an unprecedented manner.
Denny Hamlin told FOX Sports.
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Denny Hamlin claims hard racing still is okay in NASCAR

While further talking about the topic, Denny Hamlin pointed out that there is still room for hard racing in NASCAR and asserted the side-by-side duels won’t be penalized. He believes that with the current penalty given to Austin Dillon, NASCAR has drawn a line on the sand for the drivers.

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)
So, I believe so. I think that hard racing is still OK. Think if two cars are battling side-by-side and one of them hits the wall because of the close racing. I think that that’s gonna be deemed OK. Think if you come from a long way back, you are not going to win the race until you decided to wreck someone, I think that is a clear line in the sand.
Denny Hamlin said.

NASCAR has set a new standard for assessment of future wrecks. They now have to work extra careful to follow the guidelines they created, while making sure they aren’t over policing. It would be interesting to see how the ruling will change the sport going forward.

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