On Thursday, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin suffered a huge blow to his championship hopes this season. Toyota Racing Development (TRD) came forward and admitted that the race-winning engine that Hamlin’s #11 Camry XSE ran on in Bristol last March was rebuilt instead of being handed over to NASCAR for inspection as mandated. The violation drew strong repercussions from the officiating body.
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Hamlin was docked 75 points from his tally which has sent him from third to sixth on the regular season points table. 10 playoff points were also deducted from his tally, which might hamper his chances during the postseason. Furthermore, his crew chief Chris Gabehart was fined $100,000. All these hits are bound to have a demoralizing effect on the driver and his team. Hamlin now sits 103 points behind points leader Tyler Reddick with all hopes of being the regular-season champion lost.
NEWS: The No. 11 team has been issued an L2-level penalty for violating NASCAR's engine inspection requirements.
The team has been assessed with the loss of 75 driver and owner points and 10 NASCAR Playoff points. Crew chief Chris Gabehart has been fined $100,000. pic.twitter.com/FUfFNW7Uue
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 22, 2024
Even if the intermediary championship did not matter as much, losing playoff points will prove detrimental for the #11 crew during the postseason. He has no option but to grind harder when the team visits Atlanta after the regular season’s culmination. Such setbacks are what he wants least in his bid to be a Cup Series champion at least once before retiring. An appeal is out of the question as well since it was TRD that reported their mistake themselves.
The driver could try and make amends in the upcoming races at Daytona and Darlington. Hamlin’s playoff points tally sits at 11 as of now. With a race win equaling five playoff points, he could regain the loss with back-to-back victories. However, that is easier said than done. The pricey L2 level penalty is a hurdle that neither Hamlin nor his fans expected to be facing after such a formidable regular season run.
What exactly did Toyota Racing Development do wrong?
NASCAR requires teams to use a previously used engine in 18 of the 36 races on the calendar. After the first use, teams ought to seal the engine and provide a schedule of when they plan to use it again. What TRD did was send the engine used in Bristol to its Costa Mesa facility and rebuild it. The manufacturer claimed that this was an error on its part alone and that it accepted responsibility for it.
TRD President David Wilson said in an official statement, “Although we know with absolute certainty that the engine was legal and would have passed inspection, we left NASCAR in an impossible position because they were not given the opportunity to properly inspect our engine.” He went on to apologize to Hamlin, Gabehart, the Joe Gibbs Racing team, NASCAR, and the fans.
Statement from Toyota on Denny Hamlin’s Bristol engine mistakenly rebuilt instead of remaining sealed: pic.twitter.com/KQkCks6izQ
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 22, 2024
An official statement from Denny Hamlin himself is still awaited as the field prepares to go racing from Daytona International Speedway this weekend, marking the second last race of the 2024 regular season. It remains to be seen if Hamlin and the #11 JGR crew can recuperate some of their lost playoff points this weekend at the tri-oval as well as next weekend at Darlington.
