In the wake of Hamlin’s penalties, fans and NASCAR analysts alike have been vocal about the sanctioning body needing to make penalties harsher for drivers who win and are found illegal in post-race technical inspection, including going so far as to take wins away completely, like is done in short track events around the country.
Most notably, the practice has changed the winner in two of the last four runnings of the Snowball Derby — the most prestigious super late model race in the country, run each December at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
However, in NASCAR’s case, Hamlin says that the penalties levied to him do fit the crime.
“I think it fits. I think we can talk about taking wins away in the future,” Hamlin said. “I think it’s definitely a possibility (that NASCAR is looking at). As long as (the rules are) the same for everyone, I think that’s key. Make sure that when someone else is in there with the same violation, it gets the same penalty and treatment … even if it’s in the Playoffs.”
“That’s what makes me nervous – is that in the Playoffs? Is NASCAR going to do the same things when so much is on the line? Obviously, it’s negative publicity for everyone involved. so I just hope that it’s the same. I’m fine with taking wins away. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Hamlin did go on to say that repeat offenders should be penalized more severely than first-time offenders.
“I’m all for harsher penalties for parole violators, you know what I mean? If you do it on a constant basis, you definitely should be penalized for it. As far as whether you should take away wins, black or white, be subjective, it’s tough because this particular part of the car, I don’t know if it’s really black and white.”
“I don’t know what the line is where you start taking wins away, but obviously I think there should be parts of the car maybe that they distinguish … your motor, your tires, maybe rear suspension, stuff like that … major items where wins get taken away, or aero advantages where they probably should be taken away as well.”
He then had a message for the fans accusing him of cheating and crying foul because of his post-race inspection issues.
“How many wins does Richard Petty have? 200? One of those was with a big block, so does he really have 199? I mean, listen, my advice to those who say this or that is this: to all the old school fans have been watching NASCAR forever, your driver cheated at some point in their career and they got away with it. The difference is is it was inches, not thousandths. They didn’t measure that stuff back then. It’s just a tighter box that we live in today.”
“The engineers and the crew chiefs are so smart, they fight for that little bit because they know it can make the difference on the race track. I’m going to tell my crew chief to keep fighting for every inch, square inch of that car to be the best. But it makes no difference to me. I know I could line up with IROC cars at Darlington and I’m going to have an advantage there.”
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: editor@racechaseronline.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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