Hamlin Agrees with Bell Penalty, Laments Manufacturer Influence in Race Outcomes
Denny Hamlin agrees with NASCAR's call to remove his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Christopher Bell, from the playoff picture following the final lap of the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but lamented the influence of manufacturers in NASCAR Cup Series competition while speaking on his "Actions Detrimental" podcast on Monday.
CHRISTIE: NASCAR Playoffs Continue to Deliever ... Controversy
Bell, trailing William Byron by a single point as the white flag waved on Sunday's race at Martinsville, rode the outside retaining wall on the exit of turn four, a move that NASCAR deemed in violation of safety protocols put in place following Ross Chastain's "Hail Melon" at Martinsville in 2022.
While Hamlin doesn't believe Bell's move was either intentional or necessary, he accepted NASCAR's position to penalize Bell based on the conversations that took place following Chastain's maneuver that earned him a Championship 4 berth two years ago.
“In the end, I think they made the right call," said Hamlin. "I don’t like it, but they wanted to avoid us wall-riding on last laps to either gain or defend positions. C-Bell didn’t have to do it. There was probably a little bit of panic in the moment."
Hamlin believes Bell overdrove the third turn in a desire to both pick up the necessary position to advance and get around the slowing car of Bubba Wallace, who drives for the 23XI Racing team co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan.
“I can’t emphasize enough, once you get out of the concrete there and into the asphalt, you saw how dirty the cars were, right, after the race? All that stuff is up in that lane. When you hit it, it’s literally like hitting an ice patch in the road in the middle of winter.
“C-Bell hit the wall, and in a panicked situation there, he just guns it to try to get to the line as quick as he can. I think he would have been fine if had just glanced off it, pulled it down. Now, it was not going to be easy to pull down. He would have had to nearly stop, or come close to it and then accelerate off the corner. I think it was the continuous wall contact they deemed inappropriate.”
Hamlin also discussed the impacts of manufacturer influences in the championship picture, both for the Toyota teams of Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing as well as the Chevrolet teams embroiled in Sunday's controversial finish.
While Bell raced for his championship life, Byron raced ahead of the Chevrolet duo of Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon, with those two drivers side-by-side and preventing competitors such as the Ford of Brad Keselowski from challenging Byron for the sixth position.
This, along with Wallace's dramatic slowdown in the closing laps and several radio messages among the teams involved, have left an air of controversy surrounding the final laps of Sunday's race.
RELATED: NASCAR to Further Investigate Wallace, Dillon, Chastain for Race Manipulation
“We’ve been saying this for quite some time. Manufacturers have way too much say in the outcomes of these races," said Hamlin. "The manufacturers, I’m part of one, but they ruined superspeedway racing.
"I don’t know what you do about this, because NASCAR is not going to do anything to the manufacturers. That is their bread and butter. They do not want to do anything that upsets manufacturers. They’ve been trying for a decade now or better to get another one in our sport, and they certainly cannot afford for one to leave.
“I don’t know what you do about it. Fine them manufacturer series points, right? The manufacturers really do care about that quite a bit. We’ve got to do something to reel this back in, because it’s happening way, way too often.”
While Hamlin had not received more information on the cause of Wallace's loss of pace at the end of Sunday's race as of the time of recording, he noted NASCAR inspected the machine following the event.
“I don’t know what was wrong with the 23 car. I’m not at the shop, it’s Monday morning early. I saw video and audio and he about busted his ass with about five to go. Every time he entered the corner, he was nearly crashing. I don’t know. I have no idea what was wrong with the 23 car.
“I know that NASCAR inspected it after the race, which is unusual for the 19th place or 18th place car to get inspected, but they’re going to make sure what they heard on the audio from Bubba is factual.
However, he added that, if it had not been for the Chevrolet blockade of Chastain and Dillon, he was confident his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate would have surpassed Byron for the fourth and final berth in the Championship 4 ahead of next week's finale at Phoenix Raceway.
“If everything I think plays out 100 percent natural between all the cars and everything, I think the 24 is out. I think the other cars were parked behind him. Lap times would indicate that was the case. It only took one car to pass him for him to be out.
“The question still is, what do you do about it? I just don’t know what you can do about it other than take Manufacturer points away. The manufacturers care about who wins that Manufacturers Cup.”
Zach Evans is the Managing Editor of RacingAmerica.com, with nearly a decade of experience in motorsports. He has been with Racing America since 2017.