‘I’m just frustrated that we have a rule. It can’t be a convenience rule,’ Denny Hamlin calls out inconsistent officiating by NASCAR for dodging rules to let Ryan Blaney in Texas


‘I’m just frustrated that we have a rule. It can’t be a convenience rule,’ Denny Hamlin calls out inconsistent officiating by NASCAR for dodging rules to let Ryan Blaney in Texas

Denny Hamlin

The top 24 NASCAR Cup Drivers and previous race winners’ drivers entered the Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday taking a shot at the one million dollars prize money at the All-Star race where No:12 Team Penske Ford Mustang driver Ryan Blaney secured his first win behind the wheels of Next-Gen car after starting the race at P2.

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The chaotic race saw most of the top contenders crashing out of the race making Blaney’s run to the victory lane maire easy. Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Chase Elliott who were having an unbelievable run were wrecked out of the race early with veteran Denny Hamlin alongside Penske drivers Joey Logano and Austin Cindric giving a challenge for Ryan Blaney to overcome.

But Ryan Blaney’s wins weren’t as cleaned as expected just before he was to finish the race caution was called which extended the race to a couple of laps and Ryan Blaney who thought he have already won the race got his window net unhooked and failed to get all set back up in the restart which is against the rule. But NASCAR let the mistake slide and Blaney was able to secure the win in the final restart.

But Now No:11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, who made an incredible advance to P2 after a two-tire pit stop late in the race would have won the race if NASCAR followed the rule, came forth in his post-race press meet saying he is frustrated about NASCAR moves to doge the rule which actually put Ryan Blaney’s safety online.

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Denny Hamlin on NASCAR snubbing rules to let Ryan Blaney win

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin acknowledged that the final restart was an opportunity for him to get ahead of Ryan Blaney and added that he is frustrated about the fact that NASCAR has a convenience rule out of the issue at hand as he pointed to the fact that his Crew Chief is sitting out for 4 weeks due a safety rule. He went on call out the inconsistent officiating and the fact that the dodging of the rule might have put Blaney’s life in Danger at turn two where they were close to a wreck.

“I thought that it was an opportunity, otherwise the 12 was going to win the race and he was probably 100 yards from it, I don’t know. I’m just frustrated that we have a rule. It can’t be a convenience rule. We’re taking four weeks off, my crew chief is, because of safety,says Denny Hamlin.

“I almost wrecked (Ryan) Blaney off turn two and he had no window net up so what happens when I wreck him and we go head-on into him. We’ve got a problem then. It’s just frustrating because we just have no consistency in our officiating,” Denny Hamlin added.

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Denny Hamlin on Ryan Blaney not securing the safety net

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin earlier suggested that Ryan Blaney clearly deserved a win but even if not, intentionally he broke the rule the safety rules that should be followed. He went on to acknowledge that NASCAR has just luckily avoided another controversy that might have come their way for letting Blaney Race without completely securing the window net, as a wreck would have made the situation worse.

I just needed to stay beside the 12 (Ryan Blaney). You know, it’s tough because he deserved to win the race, but if you mess up and you break a rule – not intentionally, but there’s rules and we have rules in place for safety and NASCAR avoids another controversy because there wasn’t a wreck in a car with no window net,” Denny Hamlin said.

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Also read: “It was decent, I guess. It was better than doing nothing,” Ryan Blaney relished with the new All-Star Race format