After a talk, they agreed to support him in his appeal
Two weeks ago, Denny Hamlin ran Ross Chastain in the wall during the closing laps at Phoenix Raceway. The incident comes following a string of incidents between the two drivers.
NASCAR initially viewed the incident as a ‘racing incident.’ However, the following day, Hamlin used his podcast to detail the situation and admitted it was in retaliation.
Denny Hamlin admits retaliation on Ross Chastain at Phoenix (Video)
NASCAR reacted to the podcast episode, handing Hamlin a penalty of 25 points in addition to a fine of $50,000.
NASCAR issues $550,000 in fines after Phoenix Raceway
At first, Hamlin stated via twitter that he would not appeal the penalty. Yet, days later, he changed his mind and he has since filed an appeal.
Why?
Denny Hamlin changes his mind; Will appeal NASCAR penalty
Denny Hamlin provides an update
“The reason I’m appealing is because I don’t agree with any of it,” Denny Hamlin stated on Monday via his Actions Detrimental podcast.
“I initially was not going to appeal this because my owner, Joe Gibbs, who I love like family, because we are family. He called me and says, ‘Hey, this is obviously not ideal but I’ve talked to sponsors, talked to the team, we just want to let this go. We want to move on. Everyone’s fine.’ “
Kyle Busch reflects on ‘false promises’ after leaving Joe Gibbs
“I was like, ‘Fine. It’s not what I like but I’ll do it because Dad’s telling me so.’ “
“I need to be a good teammate and someone that respects when my team owner asks me to do something.”
“I slept on it, woke up and I got the email from NASCAR of the things that they said I did. I called Joe back and said, ‘Joe, I didn’t do any of these things.’ “
“He says, ‘Denny, I don’t know. Let me get the team together.’ “
“He put me on speaker phone and I explained to everyone. ‘Here’s what they said I did. This is not truthful, this is not right.’ “
“At the end of it they said, ‘We understand. If you want to appeal, we support you.’ “
“I’m not going to sit here and explain my argument cause it just gives the plaintiff time to prepare. I think it’s smarter if I keep my opinion and my facts, in my pocket.”
Respect between drivers
Many drivers commented on the incident the following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch said that drivers no longer show respect on the track.
With a lack of respect, drivers like Hamlin elect level the score. And, according to Hamlin a conversation with Chastain after the race has the two drivers moving on from all their previous incidents.
Kyle Busch says respect has exited the NASCAR garage area
“It’s harder to pass now, than ever,” Hamlin added.
“There’s less give and take because you cannot get that spot back. Back in the day of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, I remember the first 3-5 years of my career, I would let people pass on restarts, to save to my tires. To then blow their doors off, after 25 laps.”
“You could do it. Passing was easier. As tire fall off and lap time variation has changed in our sport — Laptime fall off is maybe half of what it used to be, at all tracks. Just because of reduced power, tires are getting harder, surfaces.”
“It just all equals tougher passing. So, people don’t feel like they can give a spot, get a spot.”
“Give and take, that shit’s long gone.”
Denny Hamlin admits retaliation on Ross Chastain at Phoenix (Video)
