"Wild" - Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Denny Hamlin’s penalty

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has opined on Denny Hamlin's L2 level penalty which surfaced after Toyota's big mistake. The former said the incident was a "big disappointment" for Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing crew.

Ahead of the 25th Cup Series weekend, scheduled to flag off at Daytona International Speedway, Hamlin and JGR have each been docked 75 regular season and 10 playoff points. Moreover, crew chief Chris Gabehart was fined $100,000 for the infraction.

This comes after the #11 car's engine builder, Toyota Racing Development USA's president, David Wilson reported making a "grievous mistake" by disassembling and rebuilding Bristol's race-winning engine, without prior inspection from NASCAR officials.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. penned his reaction to the chaos caused by Toyota's blunder. Junior opined that Bristol was a tire management race and that the engine doesn't really matter on the half-mile oval. He wrote (via X).

"Wild. Happened in March. And at Bristol where motor don't really matter (gives me confidence there was no real intention). Also considering what was going on with the tire management during the race. Big big disappointment for DH and crew."

The breach violated Sections 14.7.1.E, 14.7.1.F, and 14.7.1.1.B&E, which reads (via NASCAR).

Section 14.7.1.E:

"Race-winning engines “will be long block sealed by NASCAR and must be completely inspected by NASCAR before the engine may be disassembled by the team. If the team chooses to use the long block sealed race winning engine again before being inspected, the engine must be used in the same vehicle number the next time it is used.”

Section 14.7.1.F:

"Long block engine assembly seals of a long block sealed engine must not be altered, removed or replaced."

Sections 14.7.1.1.B&E, which respectively states:

“Seals must not be removed without prior approval by NASCAR,” and “if a race winning engine is sealed and presented for post-race inspection at a later date with damaged, altered or missing seals, an L2 Penalty will be assessed.”

Denny Hamlin has dropped from third to sixth in the regular season standings, while his playoff seat stands secure. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes Bristol won't be the right place to risk illegal modification.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. downplays the odds of Toyota making unapproved changes in the high-octane engine for the Bristol race

The Bristol Motor Speedway is the fastest half-mile NASCAR track with high banking (24-28 degrees) on the turns. Moreover, the Nextgen cars have low horsepower and the drivers struggle to overtake through the traffic. Thus, risking unauthorized modifications to the engine might prove detrimental to the team rather than benefitting them.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Bristol isn't where a team would use their "tricked" engine.

"If you gonna trick the engine you ain't risking it at Bristol," Junior wrote via X.

The 2024 Bristol race was more of a tire management game than an engine competition. Despite using the same tire code at the half-mile oval, the results were drastically different in last year's Bristol race in September compared to this year's battle in March.

The compounds lasted 130 laps last year but were reduced to approximately 50 this year. Denny Hamlin reigned supreme in both.