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NASCAR confiscated the louvers from all four of Hendricks cars prior to the Phoenix race.
We'll see if penalties are warranted.
Also, Hamlin admitted that he wrecked Chastain intentionally. He said that since he was on old tires, he knew he was going to go backwards on the restart, so he would take Chastain back with him. What a childish punk.
He should be punished, but probably won't be.
I think it's funny how Fox showed no video of the Hamlin/Chastain incident, other than in-car video.
Hendrick's teams hammered!
Docked Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and William Byron 100 points and also penalized them 10 playoff points each.
Suspended crew chiefs Cliff Daniels, Alan Gustafson, Rudy Fugle and Blake Harris four races each. NASCAR also fined each $100,000.
NASCAR penalized each of the four Hendrick team 100 owner points and 10 playoff points.
The 31 team was hit with the same penalty.
Hamlin was fined $50,000 and docked 25 points.
The No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driven by Aric Almirola also got hit with a safety violation for the loss or separation of an improperly installed tire/wheel from the vehicle (Sections 8.8.10.4 A&C). Crew members Ryan Mulder and Sean Cotten were suspended for two races.
Guess they had better race their best to make up for lost points. That should be interesting. But I guess NASCAR has to be equitable in these matters and level out the playing field. Then again, I suppose it supports the old saw that cheaters never win, and winners never cheat.
Hamlin did it to himself by admitting targeting Chastain. He didn't have to lie about it, but he could have just left that part out and then said that him and Chastain talked about it and had wiped the slate clean. All the Nascar media guys are upset about the decision, but even the NASCAR rep said they were going to look at it as a racing incident until Hamlin said what he did.
I'm hearing that HMS said they voluntarily had their louvers inspected 35 min after arriving at the track and felt like they had passed inspection. Then 4 hours later, NASCAR came back and confiscated them with no heads up or discussion afterwards. So they're saying not only was NASCAR not being consistent, but the part that arrived wasn't as originally approved by NASCAR anyways. Finally, they're saying that this penalty meets what NASCAR typically gives to teams post-race, however this car hadn't even been on the track yet.
Last year, when they fielded this car, NASCAR said, no modifications will be allowed.
Keselowski learned that the hard way last year when they modified the wheel.
NASCAR is not playing.
They have to be consistent. For once, they are.
Hamlin is an arrogant piece of #### who thinks that the rules don't apply to him. As a veteran in the sport, he should be an example, but he chooses to be a crybaby joke.
He's not the intimidator. Not even in his dreams.
They really set the example over the tape on the front clips costing that win. But you know, in NASCAR if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.
It is a shame that cheating is going on in racing, but it has always been that way. I was thinking today about old Smoky Yanuk and how he was famous for getting his cheats snuck in on officials.