Denny Hamlin Hit With Massive Penalty By NASCAR For Engine Violation From Bristol Win In March

How does this even happen? If you think it took a long time for NASCAR to penalize Austin Dillon after Richmond, imagine how Denny Hamlin feels right now. Hamlin left this past weekend's race at Michigan sitting third in the Cup Series points standings with three wins so far this season. But he was just hit with a massive penalty after NASCAR was made aware of violations surrounding the engine that was in Hamlin's #11 car during his race at Bristol Motor Speedway back in March. The Food City 500 was Hamlin's first win of the season. And according to NASCAR rules, the engines from all race-winning cars must be turned over to NASCAR to be inspected before being rebuilt. But according to NASCAR, officials from Toyota Racing Development broke down the engine from the car after the race, before it was rebuilt and turned over to NASCAR. Not sure how such a big mistake happens... Well once NASCAR found out about the violation, which was apparently self-reported by Toyota, they brought the hammer down on Hamlin's team. NASCAR announced today (5 months after the race) that Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing team have been docked 75 points and 10 playoff points, and that his Bristol win will not count towards playoff eligibility (not that it matters, because he's won twice since then so he's firmly in the playoffs). In addition, crew chief Chris Gabehart was fined $100,000. The penalty drops Hamlin from second in the playoff standings (which are different from the regular season standings) to sixth, which could end up coming back to haunt the team as Hamlin searches for his elusive first Cup Series championship. Toyota issued a statement after the penalty was announced, saying that the engine was mistakenly torn down and rebuilt instead of being inspected by NASCAR, but maintaining that the engine was legal and would have passed inspection. They also say that they "left NASCAR in an impossible position" and will implement changes to keep this from happening again in the future. https://twitter.com/bobpockrass/status/1826713457443348833 Just a tough break and what seems like a total bonehead move from Toyota.