Joey Logano expressed strong disapproval of NASCAR's perceived double standards today. The main target of his frustration may be Denny Hamlin. This could reignite a feud between Logano and Hamlin.
Logano came in second at the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Racewayon Sunday, March 31. Denny Hamlin secured the win, but it was surrounded by controversy. Bubba Wallace spun Kyle Larson with just two laps remaining, leading to an Overtime. On the restart, Hamlin made an early move, which he later confessed. However, NASCAR took no action, leaving many, including Logano, confused. As soon as the race ended, Heavy reported that “fans watching on television were certain Hamlin made an early move. Fans at the track also believed Hamlin did so. Many in the media echoed these sentiments.” Nonetheless, NASCAR did not intervene.“I’m going to be very upset,” Logano stated today on
SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, if NASCAR tries to apply different rules to him or another driver in the next race. “Why was it acceptable,” Logano inquired. He questioned why NASCAR allowed Hamlin to claim victory despite his clear early restart. According to Logano, NASCAR had previously reviewed questionable restarts, but not in this race. Adding to the issue, NASCAR’s decision — or lack thereof, as suggested by Logano — comes just a month after
Logano was penalized for wearing “unapproved” gloves during qualifying at the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta. Hamlin and NASCAR Acknowledge the Issue, but No Action Taken
Joey Logano finished 0.269 seconds behind Denny Hamlin at the
Toyota Owners 400 last Sunday. This marked Logano’s first top five finish of the year, with a potential win in sight if NASCAR had deemed Hamlin’s restart as early. Surprisingly, NASCAR now acknowledges this. “There is no doubt that he (Hamlin) made an early move,” as stated by Elton Sawyer, NASCAR Senior VP of Competition. Sawyer then went a step further, suggesting that NASCAR was not willing to make such a controversial decision late in the race. On SiriusXM NASCAR Radio,
NASCAR’s Sawyer said “if this (early restart) occurs at lap 10 or 50 or 300, the decision could have been different.” This was indeed a puzzling statement from NASCAR. As noted by Yahoo Sports’
Nick Bromberg , “for a NASCAR executive to openly suggest that a decision in crunch time could have differed in a non-crunch time situation seems highly unwise.” Regarding the controversy, Hamlin initially
downplayed it. He tweeted: “After much consideration, discussions with the team, and scrutiny of the SMT data, it is evident that I made an early move. Consequently, I have chosen to do the right thing and… wish you a happy April Fools Day!” However, made a joke Hamlin later confessed in his Actions Detrimental podcast that he indeed made an early restart. “I accelerated quite early in the zone,” he admitted. However, Hamlin further aggravated the situation by partially blaming Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. for “holding back” on the restart. He stated that their actions allowed him to gain an advantage. Did Denny Hamlin Betray Joey Logano
To make matters worse, it is still unknown if Hamlin was the one who reported on Logano's webbed glove violation. As Heavy pointed out following NASCAR’s decision against Logano, it was
that mentioned that teams report each other, definitely.” Hamlin also stated that “NASCAR Cup Series is filled with informers.” Hamlin For their part, several
other drivers all indicated that Denny Hamlin either did nothing wrong, or if he did, it should be permitted. Drivers require “adaptability” in these situations, according to Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece and Josh Berry. It appears that NASCAR concurs with them, for now. Joey Logano criticized NASCAR today for its perceived double standards. But Denny Hamlin might be the intended target. And this could be the re-start of a Logano – Hamlin feud
