Last month, more than five months after Bristol Motor Speedway hosted its NASCAR Cup Series race in mid-March, Toyota self-reported an infraction that stemmed from Denny Hamlin’s win at the track.
Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team was found to have violated Sections 14.7.1.E&F and 14.7.1.1.B&E of the NASCAR Rule Book. The race-winning engine from Bristol was mistakenly rebuilt by the manufacturer before NASCAR could tear it down and inspect it, leading to hefty penalties.
Hamlin was docked 10 playoff points, reducing his regular season count from 21 to 11. He earned those 21 points via his three wins (five each) and six stage wins (one each). He was also docked 75 regular season points, which ultimately dropped him from fourth to seventh place in the final regular season standings.
Bonus playoff points are awarded to the drivers who finish the regular season in the top 10 in the point standings, so Hamlin really ended up losing 13 playoff points, not just 10.
Hamlin points penalty has lingering effects
He scored four additional playoff points with his seventh place finish in the regular season standings, and he would have scored seven had he retained his spot in fourth. So thanks to the penalty, he entered the playoffs with 15 playoff points instead of 28.
Playoff points are added to each playoff driver’s point total ahead of each round of the four-round, 10-race postseason (excluding the Championship 4), provided they are still championship eligible. For example, the 16 playoff drivers all had their point totals reset to 2,000 ahead of the round of 16. With 15 playoff points, Hamlin opened up the round with 2,015 points.
In addition to Hamlin’s loss of 13 playoff points, three other drivers gained one because of the fact that Hamlin dropped in the regular season point standings.
Teammate Christopher Bell, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney all finished one spot higher in the standings than they would have without Hamlin’s penalty and thus scored an extra playoff point.
Of course, had Hamlin not won at Bristol, he never would have scored those five playoff points to begin with. Even still, that win ended up coming at a big expense, costing him 13 playoff points (for a net loss of eight).
If Hamlin misses out on advancing from a certain round by within eight points of another driver (or within nine points of Bell, Byron, or Blaney), the fact that he won at Bristol back in March will have cost him that advancement.
In a roundabout way, a race win from March could very well be what costs him his first championship.
