Besides racing, what attracts the attention of NASCAR fans is probably controversies. And when controversies are the talk of the town, can Denny Hamlin be far behind? Derailed from the victory lane with the last caution caused by Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin seemed somewhat dejected. Despite being happy for his driver, Tyler Reddick, he revealed the one thing that barred him from capitalizing on the overtime restart.

And it all came down to the fundamental rules regarding restarts in the races of NASCAR.

Yet another controversy between the golf buddies

A series of incidents involving the two: Hamlin’s controversial 7th win in Pocono, Larson nudging Denny Hamlin at Richmond, Hamlin sending gifts to Larson on his birthday, and then most recently, Hamlin holding Larson responsible for his slouchy performance over the last few laps. It is safe to say that these two NASCAR drivers share a bittersweet relationship.

Interestingly, due to Kyle Larson not following a rule related to restarts as Denny Hamlin suggested, the latter could not focus on moving forward. The rule that Larson apparently disobeyed in Kansas is quite simple. There is a zone marked by red paint on the outside wall to denote the starting point of each restart. The leader must place his foot on the gas pedal to restart the race and no one can accelerate before the leader. This is supposed to give an edge to the leader and stay in control of the restart.

However, the driver behind the leader does not always keep that prohibition in mind and lays back, hoping to hit the accelerator at full throttle once the leader hits the gas. Similarly, the driver restarting the race in third place can also lay back in order to get a thrust from the car behind and wheel past the leader using the initial momentum. From time to time, drivers have even hit the gas momentarily, igniting it for a moment and then hitting it to the full extent to obliterate the leader’s advantage.

This was exactly what Kyle Larson did. Hamlin, Larson, and Reddick were sitting 5th, 6th, and 7th, respectively on the last restart. Denny Hamlin saw in his rear mirror that Kyle Larson was already lying back.

Reputed journalists Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi talked about the incident recently. Gluck mentioned, “[Hamlin] was watching them laying back because Larson was behind him and Denny felt like the NASCAR’s not enforcing these which they really don’t, laying back on a restart.”

“They’ll call penalty for jumping the start or changing lanes before the start-finish line; I don’t really think you ever call a penalty for laying back on the restart,” he added.

Watch this story: NASCAR Fans Savagely Trash Denny Hamlin for Wrecking Himself at Sonoma

NASCAR could have given a penalty right there, but it was unlikely for NASCAR to overrule an overtime restart for a penalty. In practice, NASCAR intends to give its viewers as many green lap runs as they can.

Denny Hamlin wanted the gap that his driver snatched away from him

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Although Jordan Bianchi avoided the controversy of right or wrong, he admitted that NASCAR would not have given a penalty at that decisive moment. Nevertheless, he stated that calling out the Hendrick Motorsports icon would not have mattered. After all, Kyle Larson has already secured his spot in the round of 12s after winning at Darlington last week.

Denny Hamlin, however, had intended to use the gap on the white flag that Tyler Reddick utilized. Jeff Gluck tweeted, “Denny Hamlin said he was trying to lag back on the restart to protect from Kyle Larson lagging back because NASCAR doesn’t enforce it…”

On that very note, Denny Hamlin told Parker Kligerman, “The #5 was just laying back so much, I was trying to back up to him.”

“I just kind of focused forward probably, gave the #45 an opportunity to get up there in front of us. Just kind of sleeping on the restart looking in the rear view instead of looking in front. Just didn’t need that caution in the end,” he added with disappointment.

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