Why NASCAR took a strong stance against Hendrick and Denny Hamlin?

NASCAR heavily penalized Hendrick Motorsports and Kaulig Racing for the alleged modification of the hood louvers. They also penalized Denny Hamlin for his on-track actions in Phoenix.

However, penalties of such magnitude are very rare in NASCAR. Hendrick Motorsports was fined $400,000 for the four crew chiefs, making it the biggest fine in NASCAR history. Moreover, Hamlin was fined $50,000 and 25 driver points for wrecking Ross Chastain in the final restart at the Phoenix race.

NASCAR deemed the modification of the hood louvers as a punishable offense. Louvers are supplied by a single vendor and modification of these components is strictly prohibited without prior permission.

Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports opined that the sanctioning body would have lost credibility if they didn't penalize the team when found guilty. Another reason could be the altercation of parts supplied by single-sourced vendors that upset the balance between the teams. The main reason to have a single supplier was to reduce costs so that teams don't develop their own parts.

Elton Sawyer, vice president of competition, spoke to the media over a zoom call where he explained that NASCAR worked with the teams to modify these parts for fitting and safety purposes.

Speaking about the parts modified by the two teams, he added:

"This one rose to a level that was way beyond that."

He continued:

"It was obvious to us that these parts had been modified in an area that wasn't approved. This is a consistent penalty with what we went through last year with other competitors. ... We were put in a position that we didn’t feel like there was no other way but to write a penalty."

Hendrick Motorsports has appealed against the penalties.

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Why NASCAR penalized Denny Hamlin?

Denny Hamlin also received penalties for taking out Ross Chastain in the final restart of the race.

Hamlin was docked for violating Section 4.4 of the NASCAR rulebook, which read:

• "Attempting to manipulate the outcome of the Race or championship"
• "Wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result."

The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver admitted on his podcast to having willingly wrecked Chastain as he said:

"I’m about to finish in the mid-teens and I said, ‘You’re coming with me, buddy.’It wasn’t a mistake. I let the wheel go and I said, ‘He’s coming with me.’"

Elton Sawyer revealed that it was Hamlin's comments that instigated action to be taken, which was otherwise deemed to be a racing incident. He admitted:

"We would have viewed that as a racing incident."

Sawyer ironically praised Hamlin's podcast, adding that it was a great way to interact with the fans. He then criticized the #11 driver saying:

"But then 24 hours later,...... when you start admitting that you have intentionally done something that would compromise the results of the end of the race, then that rises to the level that we're going to get involved."

The vice president further explained that such a message from a veteran driver would leave a wrong impression on younger drivers striving to reach the higher echelons of motorsports.

Hamlin will not appeal against the penalties. The 42-year-old has shot himself in the foot with his remarks on the podcast.