Denny Hamlin talks to media

Appeals Panel Upholds NASCAR Penalties Against Denny Hamlin For Ross Chastain Incident at Phoenix

Another day and another appeals decision has come out. Denny Hamlin will be hit with the full penalty from NASCAR, no change to his punishment. The decision comes weeks after the race at Phoenix where the incident took place. No penalties were handed out until Hamlin said he purposely hit Ross Chastain on the final restart.

Denny Hamlin is learning this lesson the hard way, don’t admit to anything on your podcast. At least, not from this season that is. Hamlin would have received no penalty if he hadn’t fessed up and said he used his weak grip at Phoenix to hit Chastain.

So, Hamlin and his team will take the 25-point penalty as well as the $50,000 fine. Yet again, an appeal that does not go Hamlin’s way.

I have a feeling that Denny Hamlin is not going to be too happy about this appeal. He still has an option of appealing to the Final Appeals Officer.

When Hamlin started his Actions Detrimental podcast, he planned on using it as a way to talk to fans unfiltered. A few episodes into the project and it has cost him not just cash, but valuable points in the standings. Let’s not forget that Martin Truex Jr. only missed the playoffs by three points last season…

For now, Denny Hamlin is 12th in the standings. Those 25 points would put him in 9th place if he hadn’t been fined.

Denny Hamlin Told on Himself

With the news that the National Motorsports Appeals Panel won’t be rescinding the Denny Hamlin penalties, it reminds me of something a wise man named MF DOOM once said:

“Rap snitches, telling all their business/Sit in the court and be their own star witness.”

It turns out that being honest isn’t always the best when you’re a NASCAR driver with a public platform like Denny Hamlin.

“I went into Turn 1 with the mindset that I’m going to get the best finish that I can get. I’m on two tires and I go into Turn 1 and while I even went shallow on speed, my car plowed. … They were calling the 1 car on the outside. So, at that point, I knew that I was screwed I was about to go backwards,” Hamlin said on his podcast on March 13.

He went on to just come out and say it for everyone, including NASCAR officials to hear.

“I said, ‘You’re coming with me, buddy.’ That’s what I did. It wasn’t a mistake, no it wasn’t a mistake. I unleashed, I let the wheel go, and said he’s coming with me.”

In hindsight, Denny Hamlin should have just stuck with playing the fool. Now he knows how to approach these moments in the future. Because there will be more incidents.