{"id":80050,"date":"2022-09-27T22:30:13","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T22:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nascar-penalties-william-byron-for-spinning-denny-hamlin\/"},"modified":"2022-09-27T22:30:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T22:30:13","slug":"nascar-penalties-william-byron-for-spinning-denny-hamlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nascar-penalties-william-byron-for-spinning-denny-hamlin\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR penalties William Byron for spinning Denny Hamlin"},"content":{"rendered":"
NASCAR’s admission that it did not see William Byron spin Denny Hamlin under caution during Sunday’s Cup playoff race is troubling.<\/p>\n
With video evidence of impropriety and Hamlin’s team vigorously arguing for relief, there were enough reasons for series officials to take a closer look at putting Hamlin back to second before the race returned to green-flag conditions. Or some other remedy even after the race resumed. <\/span><\/p>\n Add the lack of access series officials had to Byron’s in-car camera\u2014 something fans could readily see at NASCAR.com and the NASCAR Mobile App \u2014 and changes need to be made before this weekend’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.<\/p>\n While NASCAR should make every effort to judge matters between drivers regardless of their playoff status, that it was two playoff drivers involved in an incident demanded greater attention. With three races per round, one misstep can mean the difference between advancing or being eliminated. <\/span><\/p>\n Just as more is expected from drivers and teams in the playoffs, the same should be expected of officials.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we had seen that (contact) good enough to react to it in real time, which we should have, like no excuse there, there would probably have been two courses of action,\u201d said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition Sunday night. \u201cOne would have been to put Hamlin back where he was, or the other would be to have made William start in the back.\u201d<\/p>\n Here is how the incident played out:<\/p>\n The caution waved at Lap 269 for Martin Truex Jr.’s crash at 8:19 pm ET.<\/p>\n As Hamlin slowed, Byron closed and hit him in the rear. <\/span><\/p>\n Byron admitted after the race the contact was intentional, although he didn’t mean to wreck Hamlin. Byron was upset with how Hamlin raced him on Lap 262. Byron felt Hamlin forced him into the wall as they exited Turn 2 side-by-side. Byron expressed his displeasure during the caution.<\/p>\n #NASCAR<\/a>‘s Scott Miller says officials did not see William Byron spin Denny Hamlin under caution. pic.twitter.com\/1PuA2JSsk0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Dustin Long (@dustinlong) September 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n About 90 seconds after the caution lights illuminated, the USA broadcast showed a replay from a low angle of Byron directly behind Hamlin’s car and apparent contact. <\/span><\/p>\n Contact can happen in multiple ways. It can come from the lead car hitting the brakes and forcing the car behind to hit them, or it can come from the trailing car ramming into the car ahead. The first video replay did not make it clear what caused the contact, making it difficult for any official to rule one way or the other based solely on that.<\/p>\n This also is a time when NASCAR officials were monitoring safety vehicles on track, checking the lineup and making sure pit road was ready to be open. It’s something NASCAR does effortlessly much of the time. Just not this time. <\/span><\/p>\n A different replay aired on USA 11 minutes, 16 seconds after the caution that showed Byron and Hamlin’s car together. That replay aired about a minute before the green flag waved at 8:31 pm ET. Throughout the caution, Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart argued that Hamlin should have restarted second.<\/p>\n But once the race resumed, the matter was over for NASCAR. Or so it seemed.<\/p>\n Three minutes after the green flag waved, the NASCAR Twitter account posted in-car video that showed Byron running into the back of Hamlin’s car while the caution was out. Such action is typically a penalty \u2014 often parking a driver for the rest of the race. Instead, Byron was allowed to continue and nothing was done during the rest of the event. <\/span><\/p>\n Here’s a look at what happened between @WilliamByron<\/a> and @dennyhamlin<\/a>. #NASCARPlayoffs<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/UgPH2EIiNd<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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