Hendrick Motorsports penalty: NASCAR hammers Denny Hamlin, Justin Haley with fines, points slashed after Phoenix violations
On Sunday at Phoenix, for the second straight race, the checkered flag dropped on William Byron.
On Wednesday, it was the hammer. And he was far from the only one.
NASCAR levied major fines and penalties on all four Hendrick Motorsports teams and on the Kaulig Racing No. 31 entry, driven by Justin Haley, after it determined that unapproved modifications had been made to hood louvers prior to Sunday's race at Phoenix. The teams of Haley and Byron, as well as the No. 48 of Alex Bowman, No. 5 of Kyle Larson and No. 9 of Chase Elliott were docked 100 team points and in all cases but Elliott's, 100 driver points and 10 playoff points. Elliott is currently out with a broken leg with Josh Berry filling in as a substitute driver in each of the last two races.
Additionally, the crew chiefs of all five teams — Cliff Daniels (Larson), Alan Gustafson (Elliott), Rudy Fugle (Byron), Blake Harris (Bowman) and Trent Owens (Haley) were fined $100,000 each and are suspended for the next four races. The $400,000 total for Hendrick is the largest team fine ever issues by NASCAR, besting a $300,000 penalty handed to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2013 for race manipulation after a late crash at Richmond.
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NASCAR vice president of competition Elton Sawyer spoke via video conference on Wednesday afternoon.
“We, from time to time, will capture parts, we’ll bring them back,” Sawyer said. “And as we continue to investigate and look at parts and comparing parts, 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 — the 6, the 34. So we felt like to keep the garage on a level playing field, the competition level where it needs to be, all the dialogue that went around this car last year working with the owners on what the deterrent model should be, we were put in a position that we did feel like there was no other way but to write a penalty.”
Hood louvers are openings in the hood that lead to the radiator. The parts supplied by NASCAR.
All five teams had theirs confiscated prior to Sunday's race. Byron went on to win with all four Hendrick entries finishing in the top 10. Larson came home fourth, Bowman ninth and Berry 10th.
Bowman emerged from last week as the points leader prior to the penalties and is the only driver in the Cup Series to finish in the top 10 in all four races thus far. Byron was fourth and Larson, fifth.
Denny Hamlin hit with fine, penalty as well
While NASCAR was levying out the pain on Wednesday, Denny Hamlin caught some shrapnel as well, getting hit with a $50,000 fine and 25 driver points after a late-race incident with long-time rival Ross Chastain on Sunday.
After a late restart, Hamlin appeared to get tight entering a corner and ran Chastain up the race track and into the wall. Both drivers were working on top-10 runs and instead, Hamlin ended up 23rd and Chastain 24th.
On his podcast on Monday, Hamlin admitted the incident was no accident at all.
“I got to the end of the race. I saw that he was on the outside of me. I went into Turn 1 with the mindset that I’m going to try to get the best finish that I can get,” Hamlin explained. ”I’m on two tires and I go into Turn 1, and while I even went in shallow on speed, my car plowed.
"At that point, I knew that I was screwed. I was about to go backward. I had all the four-tire cars on my ass. They were going to pass me more than likely in the next corner. I know I had two fresh-tire cars underneath of me anyways. I was four-wide. I’m like ‘I’m going straight to the back.’ My crew chief told me there were 18 cars on the lead lap, and at that point, I’m probably running sixth or seventh and I’m about to get passed by everybody behind me whose on fresh tires. I’m about to finish in the mid-teens and I said ‘you’re coming with me buddy.’
"I’m not gonna sit here on this podcast and ever lie to you guys and say, ‘Well, this is an accident,’ when it’s not. It wasn’t an accident. I meant to put them in the fence, but I didn’t mean to screw my team in the process. … But at the time when you’re seeing red, that’s all that really matters. I just saw an opportunity to not involve anyone else, I was about to go to the back and I wanted to take him with me. So, we talked, and I think that we are in a better place where I think we’re willing to put the past behind us, and I think that we’re going to judge each other from this point forward, and I think that’s the fairest way to do it.”
What are L1, L2 and L3 penalties in NASCAR?
Prior to the 2022 season, NASCAR introduced a new, more stringent penalty structure in the Cup Series, using a three-tiered system that included L1, L2 and L3 penalties with L3s being the most severe.
On Wednesday, Hendrick Motorsports and the Kaulig Racing No. 31 team were issued L2 penalties. But what does that mean?
L2 penalties are levied if a team has been determined to commit such infractions as modifying single-source Next Gen parts without reaching the L3 level, violating engine-seal requirements, making unapproved adjustments to engine control system wiring or using unapproved on-board electronics. Penalties include point deductions of 75-120 points, deductions of 10-25 playoff points, the suspension of one or two crew members for four-to-six races and fines between $100,000 and $250,000.
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Comparatively speaking, L1 penalties are less severe with the consequences ranging from point deductions of 25-70, playoff point penalties from 1-10, the suspension of a single crew member for one-to-three races and fines of $25,000-$100,000. Post-race minimum height violations, modified single-source parts not warranting a higher-level penalty and failure to submit and receive approval for parts are all listed as infractions to be met with an L1 penalty.
What are the harshest penalties in NASCAR?
As tough as Wednesday's sanctions against the teams were, an L3 penalty would've been even worse. Under that umbrella, teams can be docked from 120-180 points, 25-50 playoff points, can have up to two crew members suspended for six races and fines fall between $250,000 and $500,000. Also, entire teams can be suspended for a race and/or be deemed ineligible for the playoffs, regardless of wins or prior point standing.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR: Hendrick Motorsports, Denny Hamlin, Justin Haley penalized
