[autotag]Denny Hamlin[/autotag] won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, but it wasn’t without controversy. As the control car, Hamlin jumped the final restart in NASCAR overtime, and no penalty was called. Following the event, Martin Truex Jr. said he jumped the restart while NASCAR reviewed it and deemed the launch OK.
On Tuesday morning, NASCAR appears to have backed away from that stance. NASCAR Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to discuss the final restart at Richmond.
“There’s no doubt [Denny Hamlin] rolled early,” Sawyer said. “It’s a bang-bang call, it’s at the end of the race. We’re a live sporting event. We don’t have the luxury of a timeout, and go to the sidelines, and review it, and make that call. If this happens at Lap 10 or 50 or 300, the call could have been different. If I’m a competitor, I wouldn’t be playing that game every week.”
It is great that NASCAR is taking accountability for missing a call. Admitting that it was wrong will help set a much-needed precedent moving forward. Hopefully, NASCAR will learn from this experience and apply it to future races. However, the admission doesn’t change the outcome, as Hamlin now has two wins to start the 2024 season.
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