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Denny Hamlin isn't usually seen at the back of the field. Nevertheless, a pit lane speeding penalty sent him to the back of the pack at the Richmond Raceway VA on Sunday.
On the restart, the American was battling with JJ Yeley. Chandler Smith went wide off turn four just in front of him and Yeley and Hamlin both turned to Smith.
Denny Hamlin lost his cool on lap 45 of Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. It was possibly due to the irritation of an early pit road speeding penalty combined with the annoyance of JJ Yeley clearing himself coming into Turn 1. Sadly, Yeley, the driver of the Rick Ware Racing No. 15 car, paid the price.
On lap 45 of the 400, they drove three wide off turn four, and Yeley squeezed Hamlin, forcing the No. 11 driver to lift. When Yeley pushed his car up in front of Hamlin's No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, Hamlin went through the back of Yeley's No. 15. It sent the latter into the outside wall. Yeley's team completed the repairs in the given time, and he rejoined the race.
Yeley wasn't particularly happy with Denny Hamlin. During an interview after the crash, he shared his thoughts on the incident:
"I don't know if there could have been anything from a guy who's been preaching respect for the last couple of weeks, seemed really silly on lap 32."
Yeley backed hard into the outer wall as the rear end stepped out. He was the first to receive the Next Gen rear clip modifications. The crash shattered Yeley's decklid.
"That’s a moot point," Denny Hamlin says about Crew Chief Penalties in NASCAR
Some NASCAR Cup drivers feel that a crew chief can make strategic decisions during a race from the team's war room rather than from atop the pit box.
After Hamlin was suspended, his Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief Chris Gabehart told him that he had a superior perspective on all the information and technology from the war room.
"The crew chief suspension nowadays, that’s a moot point, That’s a fake penalty. It’s not really a penalty. It used to be a big deal back in the day when the crew chief played a huge role in the calls.” Hamlin said.
RFK Racing has had a war room for the previous four or five years, but it has a new one this year as the team updates its digital infrastructure. In their war rooms, most teams adopt proprietary software.
