Denny Hamlin believes Austin Hill's suspension sends the right message

Denny Hamlin weighed in on Austin Hill's suspension and framed it as a neccessary move to curb aggressive driving. He admitted that 'it always hurts' to be made an example of, but insisted that such penalties will payoff in the long term.

Following his shunt with Aric Almirola at Indianapolis, Hill received a one-race suspension and was stripped of his 21 playoff points. Futhermore, NASCAR's 2025 regulations stipulates that Hill will be ineligible for anymore playoff points through the regular season, making him the first driver penalized under the new rules.

On Saturday, August 3, Hamlin was asked whether the punishment fit the crime.

"Well, it always hurts when you're the first," Hamlin replied,"and you know the idea I think behind the penalty is to deter others from, you know, doing something similar to that in the same scenario. So, usually this is how it works where it just takes one rough driving penalty to, you know, get the field's attention and certainly nobody wants to have the the penalty that the 21 had." [via Youtube/Frontstretch, 1:08 onwards]

Denny Hamlin recently theorized whether Austin Hill intentionally turned into Almirola. He suggested that Hill wouldn't be 'that dumb' to do it on purpose, and that it may have been a botched steering correction instead.

Nonetheless, Austin Dillon filled in for Hill on Saturday's(August 2) Xfinity Series at Iowa Speedway. The Richard Childress Racing driver qualified sixth and went on to finish 14th.

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Denny Hamlin admits uncertainty at Iowa

Denny Hamlin acknowledged his lack of experience at Iowa Speedway. The Cup Series veteran known for his short track prowess, admitted that he's yet to find his footing at the 0.875-mile oval.

"I don't know where we stand truthfully. I really don't. Usually I know every track and you know, if I have a certain feel at a track, even if it's not the right feel, I know what we need to do to fix it. Here I'm just a little bit more questioning, you know, my style and figuring out what I need to do," he said via aforementioned source. [3:40 onwards]

In line with his comments, Denny Hamlin qualified outside the top-10 for Sunday's 350 lap event, while his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe clinched pole. Notably, Briscoe recently explained how the track lost it's charm after last year's partial repave. He's also one of the most winningest driver at the track, having won an ARCA Menards race back in 2016, followed by an Xfinity win in 2019.

Hamlin currently leads the playoff standings with four wins, but ranks fourth in points. He's led by the Hendrick Motorsports trio of Kyle Larson, William Byron and Chase Elliott, all of whom have qualified inside the top-10 at Iowa.

Fans can watch the race unfold on USA and HBO Max at 3:30 PM ET, or listen to radio updates on SiriusXM, Channel 90.