Pit This Time may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our coverage. Learn more.
Denny Hamlin said Kyle Larson did not cut below the line on his way to winning at Talladega Superspeedway, but said Larson’s last-lap move put Austin Hill below the yellow line, and called NASCAR’s handling of the rule “too wishy-washy for my taste.”
Hamlin made the comments on this week’s episode of his podcast, Actions Detrimental, released Monday. He is second in the Chase standings, 73 points behind Larson with two races left.
‘He did not go below the yellow line’
Photos of the finish of Sunday’s YellaWood 500 appeared to show Larson’s left-side tires on the double yellow line as he charged from deep in the pack to the win. NASCAR reviewed the finish and ruled the pass legal. Hamlin agreed with that call.
“He did not go below the yellow line,” Hamlin said. “Yeah, that’s fair. Maybe you can argue the [Ross Chastain] did. I saw a camera angle from him where he was pretty low.”
“Well, I think in the final lap, there’s about three cars that went below the yellow line. My only question was the Austin Hill one.”
The Austin Hill question
Hill drove the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on Sunday and was pushing Larson early on the final lap. Hamlin said there was no doubt Hill went below the line. The question, he said, was why.
“Let me tell you something. He’s below the yellow line. So I’m going to check that box. Yes,” Hamlin said. “Then you have to ask, well, how did he get there? Did he drive below the yellow line or did he get forced down there?”
“I think he turned down to the yellow line and was on the yellow line. And then the 5 made a move that forced him below the yellow line.”
NASCAR’s rules allow a black flag for a driver who goes below the double yellow lines to advance position, and for forcing another car below the lines to block a pass. Hamlin did not say directly that Larson should have been penalized.
‘Let’s just throw it away’
Hamlin said the problem is how the rule is enforced, not this one finish.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m just saying there was many cars below the yellow line on the last lap. And the 5 was not one of them,” he said. “And again, it’s just hold the whistle. I just, it’s just too wishy-washy for my taste.”
“Go away. Let’s just have it all go away. I’m tired of the ambiguity of it. Let’s just throw it away. Let’s have no holds barred racing. That’s what I want.”
Where it leaves the Chase
Larson’s win was his first at Talladega and stretched his lead to 73 points over Hamlin, who finished eighth. NASCAR told The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck that Larson’s tires were on the line but never below it, and that SMT data showed Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron and Cole Custer did not lift to help him.
The Cup Series races next at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Hamlin has six Cup wins at Martinsville.
Leave a Reply