While Denny Hamlin evaded severe punishment last week over his insensitive tweet about Kyle Larson, it appears that his team is going to receive a significant punishment this week.
During Monday’s resumed DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover, a wheel came flying off Hamlin’s car as he pulled out of a pitstop. That kind of issue is almost certain to trigger a four-race suspension for crew chief Chris Gabehart, as well as for the tire changer and the jackman involved with that wheel.
That same punishment was handed down the previous week to BJ McLeod’s No. 78 car crew after he lost a wheel at Talladega Superspeedway.
This specific situation is a violation of Section 10.5.2.6 in the NASCAR Rule Book, which states: “Loss or separation of an improperly installed tire(s)/wheel(s) from the vehicle will result in a four Race suspension of the crew chief and two additional team members.”
NASCAR implemented the rule and punishment a few years back over safety concerns, given that a loose tire on the track could cause serious issues to the passing cars, not to mention the car that loses the tire. While some feel as though the punishment is a bit excessive, there were plenty of NASCAR fans chiming in to note that at least Denny beat his own tire in the race today.
"Here's a look at the Ram Race off pit-road"
1.) Denny Hamlin
2.) Denny Hamlin's tire https://t.co/XPT9k56iNc
— Michael Carey (@ItsMichaelCarey) May 2, 2022
Denny Hamlin beats Denny Hamlin’s LF tire off of pit road on lap 124 at Dover. pic.twitter.com/PFt0yYLc3N
— Justin Melillo (@justinmelillo) May 2, 2022
Denny Hamlin wins the race off pit road with 4 tires.
— Austin Konenski (@AustinKonenski) May 2, 2022
Hamlin’s crew can expect to hear the bad news in the next day or so. Maybe next week will be better for Denny.