Austin Dillon took out Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to secure his win at Richmond. This has stirred up quite some controversy, as both drivers are speaking their minds about Dillon’s actions, and it’s clear that they are mad. Hamlin has been the calmer one when it came to the two drivers, but that did not just come from nowhere. Hamlin understood the repercussions of going all out during the after-race interview, so he decided to hold back.

Once the race was over and everyone got home, Denny Hamlin took this opportunity to voice his mind, and he did so on the Dirty Mo Media podcast called Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin. Joined by his co-host, Jared Allen, the two broke down what happened at the Cookout 400 as Hamlin expressed his regret about owning a team in NASCAR at this stage. The fact that, after ruining the race for two cars, Dillon did not get penalized and was announced as the winner of the race was the beginning of Hamlin’s problem with the sanctioning body of NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin goes unfiltered after the Richmond race

Denny Hamlin believes that NASCAR should have taken action for Dillon’s driving. According to him, it was wreckless, and it did lead to the race being ruined for him and Logano. Despite the two drivers voicing their concerns at the post-race interview, NASCAR awarded Austin Dillon the trophy.

This led to Hamlin going on a rant on his podcast as he explained, “I just don’t know why we’ve allowed it to get this bad over time, and I believe you have a responsibility as a sanctioning body to set an example, not only for your competitors but for the people that are coming up through the ranks to say this is how we professionally race.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver pointed his finger at the sanctioning body of NASCAR as he reminded them of their duty. Hamlin stated, “You are the sanctioning body; you are the big boys in the room. You have to make tough calls sometimes; sometimes you have to make the right call even if it’s a tough call.” Hamlin believes this is a tough call, as many fans enjoyed the unexpected outcome of the race despite it being unfair.

It’s been 2 decades since Hamlin has been racing in NASCAR, and looking at the inconsistency when it comes to the rules, he said, “If NASCAR is saying right now, hold up, as they said yesterday. Say it, but I’m saying if they didn’t rule on it yesterday, if they don’t rule on it today, they don’t rule on it tomorrow. Tell me then what is unacceptable.”

An honest sport is one that fans can actually enjoy. According to Hamlin, the NASCAR decision was an unfair one, and he believes that this will hurt the sport in the long term. By now, almost everyone knows that Hamlin is not just a driver but also a team owner. This gives him a different perspective on the sport, but after the last race, it seems like he is regretting his decision to start his own team.

Why does Denny Hamlin regret investing in NASCAR?

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According to Hamlin, the last race proved that NASCAR rules have a lot of grey areas, which hurts the teams. Having a win where a driver who is at P32 in points can just come and hook drivers out of the way to win seems to have made Hamlin lose his faith. 23XI Racing is a partnership between Denny Hamlin and NBA star Michael Jordan. This collaboration has two charters, which are driven by Bubba Wallace and Tyle Reddick, respectively.

With this, Hamlin has experience of what it’s like to manage a NASCAR instead of just driving for one. So with two cars to manage, the professional racer said, “As a car owner, I spend tens of millions of dollars to make sure our cars are fast. My drivers have an equal opportunity to go out and race. However, if you’re telling me that anyone can go out there and just wipe us out intentionally, that’s not the sport I invested in. So I have a problem with that.”

That being said, do you think that Denny Hamlin should have won the Cookout 400? Share your thoughts in the comments below.