NASCAR issues severe penalty to William Byron for intentionally spinning Denny Hamlin at Texas

NASCAR issues severe penalty to William Byron for intentionally spinning Denny Hamlin at Texas

William Byron

NASCAR found itself in hot water after failing to penalize William Byron at Texas. The HMS driver intentionally spun Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin under caution. Fans and drivers accused NASCAR of Hendrick Motorsports bias after failing to penalize the HMS driver.

William Byron will be docked 25 championship points and will have to pay $50,000 for his actions at Texas. Hendrick Motorsports has already started its preparation to appeal the decision. The penalty has dented Byron’s championship hopes. Byron was 17 points above the cut-off for a round of 8. He now is among the elimination four.

Chase Briscoe was able to get into the safe zone after Byron’s penalty. Byron joined his teammate Alex Bowman in the elimination four. If NASCAR refuses to reverse the decision, Byron might have to win any of the coming two races to enter Round of 8.  Along with Byron 23X1 Racing driver, Ty Gibbs is also penalized for his careless driving in the pit.

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Why it took NASCAR this long to penalize William Byron?  

William Byron
William Byron

NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller, on Sunday itself, revealed why they didn’t penalize Byron. He pointed out that the controlling tower was busy addressing the caution they didn’t have any eye on Byron and Hamlin. Miller added that the replay of the incident came late to make any decision before the race went green.  

“When we were in the tower, we were paying more attention to the actual cause of the caution up there in dispatching our equipment. The William Byron-Denny Hamlin thing, we had no eyes on…We saw Denny go through the grass, and by the time we got to a replay that showed the incident well enough to do anything to it, we’d gone back to green,” Scott Miller said.

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The senior officials’ words were met by heavy criticism from the cup drivers. The backlash might have forced the organization to revisit the incident. The credibility of NASCAR was at stake. So, they went with the most rational decision to penalize Byron, whom himself admitted to spinning Hamlin intentionally.  

What are your thoughts on the penalty?

Also read: Tyler Reddick’s luck secured him a win at the chaotic Texas Playoff Race

Also read: Kyle Busch calls out NASCAR for its HMS bias after William Byron walks free of penalty for spinning Denny Hamlin under caution