Denny Hamlin loses playoff points in NASCAR penalty for engine seal violation

NASCAR docked Denny Hamlin and car owner Joe Gibbs 75 regular-season points and 10 playoff points in an L2 penalty for an engine seal violation following Hamlin’s victory at Bristol in the spring, the sanctioning body announced Thursday.

NASCAR cited a rule that requires race-winning engines to be sealed then disassembled by NASCAR officials before being torn down. NASCAR referred to Sections 14.7.1.E&F and 14.7.1.1.B&E of the NASCAR rule book in announcing the penalty.

“In this instance, prior to presenting the engine to NASCAR for inspection, Toyota Racing Development disassembled and rebuilt the No. 11’s Bristol-winning race engine,” NASCAR said in a statement. “Per the NASCAR Rule Book, this violation results in an L2 penalty to the race team and driver.”

NASCAR also referred to the rule regarding engine seals, which cannot be broken unless given approval by NASCAR and can be subject to an L2 penalty.

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The violation was reported by Toyota Racing Development, which said in a statement that the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team’s engine from the March 17 win at Bristol was “mistakenly returned” to a TRD facility where it was disassembled.

“Although we know with absolute certainty that the engine was legal and would have passed inspection, we left NASCAR in an impossible position because they were not given the opportunity to properly inspect our engine,” TRD president David Wilson said in a statement. “We have reviewed our processes and have implemented several additional steps to ensure that this never happens again. TRD takes full responsibility for this grievous mistake, and we apologize to Denny, Chris, Coach Gibbs, the entire JGR organization, NASCAR and our fans.”

Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart was also fined $100,000.

Hamlin’s chances to win the regular season points title and the 15 playoff points that come with it are now virtually none, as he is now 103 points behind leader Tyler Reddick with two races remaining. Hamlin’s Bristol win also won’t count toward his playoff eligibility or any tiebreaker during the playoffs. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota is still locked into the playoffs via his two other wins this season.

The Cup Series regular season will conclude in the next two weeks, at Daytona and Darlington. Both tracks are among Hamlin’s best, as he has three wins on the 2.5-mile track and four wins at the egg-shaped oval.