‘Four races is steep’: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing challenge NASCAR’s tire ruling
Denny Hamlin has his regular crew members with him this weekend at Darlington Raceway, but it’s not clear how long that will last.
On Wednesday, NASCAR announced that four of Hamlin’s crew members at Joe Gibbs Racing — including crew chief Chris Gabehart — would be suspended four races for violating Section 10.5.2.6 of the NASCAR rule book, which deals with the separation of an improperly installed wheel.
At Monday’s rain-delayed finish at Dover Speedway, the front-left tire came off Hamlin’s car in the seconds after a pit stop. Joe Gibbs Racing is appealing the suspension, so the crew members are allowed to be at the track until the appeal is ruled upon.
“There is nothing that our changers could have done differently. If the nut falls out, I don’t know how we control that,” Hamlin said Saturday. “You never know how it all turns out, but certainly they are making their case. But yeah, it is important to have your guys here.”
It wasn’t immediately known how quickly a decision on the appeal would be made.
In 2016, NASCAR began cracking down on teams for having loose lug nuts and implemented a one-race suspension for crews after Tony Stewart said NASCAR was lax on safety. The penalty eventually increased to four races for crew chiefs and crew members.
Prior to this year, there were five lug nuts that went on each wheel. But with the new Next Gen car, which made its debut this season, each wheel has one lug nut.
Hamlin and some other drivers, including Bubba Wallace, think NASCAR should rethink severity of the penalty.
“We change a lot of rules to keep up with the times. Again, this isn’t our equipment. Four races is steep,” Hamlin said. “I wish Tony Stewart would go back in time and say I’m sorry for making such a big deal about loose wheels. I’m not trying to undersell it. But the penalty is dramatic for the team before you levy all this other stuff. You can’t race with a loose wheel. With five nuts, you could kind of limp around and have a warning. Now with just one nut, they just fall off.”
The lug nut and tire issue was the latest trouble for Hamlin’s season. He was 23rd in points entering Sunday’s Cookout 400 at Darlington. He does have a win to his credit, which qualifies him for the NASCAR playoffs, but it’s been anything but an easy season for the Virginia native.
“It has been frustrating. It has been week after week of being the coyote that gets the anvil dropped on us,” Hamlin said, referencing the “Looney Tunes” cartoon characters. “Been lot of things that have kept our results from being what they should.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2022 at 11:16 AM.
