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NASCAR: Joe Gibbs Racing Speaks Out About Disqualification of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch

The news shocked fans for sure. NASCAR disqualified Denny Hamlin after his win at Pocono and now Joe Gibbs Racing has commented. This kind of thing hasn’t happened for a long time. JGR is definitely in a tough position with their top two drivers in this race, and from a marketing standpoint, were DQ’d following post-race inspection.

Right now, there is no word on whether an appeal will be made or not. However, with how much this DQ affects the postseason and more – an appeal is almost guaranteed. Still, it remains to be seen.

Bob Pockrass of Fox NASCAR got the word from JGR.

“We were shocked to learn of the infraction that caused our two cars to fail NASCAR’s post-race technical inspection. We plan to review every part of the process that led to this situation.”

Of course, the team cannot be happy with the decision. They had the two best cars all day and they were dominant. And now Chase Elliott has a fourth win. However, these infractions are not being taken lightly by NASCAR. They have handed out harsh penalties for various changes to cars and other issues.

Still, you can’t deny that this is probably the biggest penalty of the year. This makes Brad Keselowski’s penalty look silly. This win would have put Hamlin into second in the playoff points standings. Now, he’ll have to manage to find those points in one of the last five races of the season. But he’s not giving the flag back.

For Busch, it’s a letdown in a season that could have definitely gone better up to this point.

Joe Gibbs Racing Faces Two Disqualifications After Pocono

The two disqualifications come after the post-race inspections. Joe Gibbs Racing sent their two cars into tech, and the wraps were removed to check on parts of the car that aren’t reviewed under prerace inspection. So, once the wrap was removed the issue was found.

“The part was the front facia, and there really was no reason why there was some material somewhere where it shouldn’t have been and that basically comes down to a DQ,” Brad Moran, Managing Director, NASCAR Cup Series explained. “It is a penalty both first 11 of Denny Hamlin and 18 of Kyle Busch have been DQ’d. Their vehicles are being loaded into a NASCAR hauler, they’re going to be taken to the R&D Center.”

Tomorrow we’ll know whether or not the appeals will be made. They have until Monday afternoon to make the decision. If they do appeal, then a further decision will be made later this week. Officials don’t see it taking a long time to get it sorted out.

Now, Joe Gibbs Racing will be looking for other solutions. Can they find time in the last five races of the year and get themselves in a place to bring home a title? It’s hard to say. These next few weeks will reveal a lot as the regular season is coming to a close.