Denny Hamlin was shocked by the ‘straightforward and political’ statement from NASCAR senior official about him during the appeal hearing
Denny Hamlin shared his first-hand experience of the appeal committee process in his podcast.
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Denny Hamlin (Credits: IMAGO)
Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin was in for surprise at his penalty appeal hearing on Wednesday. He was appealing the 25 championship point reduction and $50K fine imposed on him for intentionally wrecking Ross Chastain. He was penalized after he revealed in his podcast that he spun the No:1 Chevy part of a minor revenge.
The 23XI Racing co-owner lost the appeal. After the disappointing result, he appeared on his Action Detrimental podcast once again for a special episode to share his experience in Infront of the committee. While discussing the whole appeal process, he revealed that he was surprised by the positive take of him by the NASCAR officials who were there to defend their sanctions.
He said that NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton, who was at the hearing as the rules expert alongside competition strategist Scott Miller, gave a positive take on him while he was questioned. Hamlin said he was surprised by Helton’s words and how fair he was to him. The No:11 driver added that the officials were fair to him during the hearing.
“Interestingly enough, I thought both of those guys were super fair to me. I thought Mike Hilton was like, ‘Man,’ talking about how great of a guy I am and how much I do for the sport. I thought he was super fair,” Hamlin said.
“So, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s very straightforward, political, and great of Mike.’ I thought Mike was super fair, and everything, and really everyone, was fair. I’ve got no issues with anyone on the other side of that table. They had a case to present. I did as well.” Hamlin added.
The outcome of the appeal was pretty disappointing for Denny Hamlin
The appeal committee decided not to change the sanction that was imposed on Denny Hamlin for his actions, even after what the veteran believed was a strong case. In his special podcast, he revealed that the panel was asking more questions to the NASCAR officials and was seen accepting the claims made by him.
Hamlin’s main argument was that the NASCAR rule book allows drivers to police themselves, giving them free licenses to race hard and take cautious revenge. He pointed out that many drivers have gone unpunished for expressing their guilt on live television, and NASCAR should not have punished him for proving a point. But to his dismay, the panel decided to uphold the actions and didn’t give the reasoning for it.
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Justin P Joy
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