They say, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’. Denny Hamlin sure seems to be made from that toughened clay that can handle poetic justice for the greater good. He manages to see his own past mistakes in light of the Richmond penalty and gives an open hand to NASCAR to use how it deems fit.

To really understand this, we may need to rewind the clock a bit. The pit road clash between Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott after the Martinsville race in 2017 is an event most NASCAR fans would remember. Today’s Austin Dillon was that day’s Hamlin, who bumped into Elliott and forced his car into the wall. While Hamlin tried to cover it up by saying he was himself pushed, Elliott called out his lies then and there. It was the urge to win that got Hamlin to do what he did.

Although Hamlin defended his move back then, he now realizes how childish it was of him in hindsight. People can often sympathize with others about their problems, but empathy only arises with one’s own experience of the problems.

“I think that there’s some incidences that have happened in the past that probably, you know, if this is a new precedent, it could fall under those, I think. For instance, when I spun out Chase Elliott 2017,” admitted a remorseful Hamlin, at the pre-race presser.

So, Denny Hamlin now wants NASCAR to be the beacon of change to prevent such incidents from ruining races for the deserving. There is a need to take calls to put an end to reckless driving because that’s just not the game. And other motorsport series have been doing it on the spot, asserting the authority of the officials. “It’s just an easy call, it really is an easy call. But you [NASCAR] have to give the people in the tower [Broadcast team] liberty to do it. And hopefully, we’ve created new precedent,” suggested Hamlin, hoping for quicker calls in the future.

The reason why NASCAR took so long to take the call on the Richmond race is because they wanted to provide a fair view. The whole point of the policing approach adopted by NASCAR is to make the game equitable for all participants. “It’s just a matter of, that’s one where you need to really, you know, put your foot down and say we’ve got to police the sporting aspect of this at that point.”

But the delay can be seen from the perspective of finding it difficult to draw lines around contact between the cars. ‘Bump and run’ has always been a part of the sport, almost like a cultural thing. So, what if the precedence of policing will suck out all the fun from the game?

Hamlin talks about winning the race without wrecking your opponent

The current format of the NASCAR Cup Series with the Playoffs situation has converted the sport into entertainment for the masses. “In a lot of ways when you bring in the big money, you have to provide entertainment. And that’s what, Sunday night was entertaining to me, but race-wise I don’t approve of that,” said Mark Martin on the Dirty Mo Media podcast. The popularity of the sport did grow after the flow of money, but some sanctity will need to be maintained.

As long as there’s no impeachment of the racing conduct, all the surrounding glamor and fun are acceptable. But race needs to be purely about racing. No tricks, no tactics, just seamless maneuvering. “I know people are really worried about well we don’t wanna stop the contact, you’re not going to. We’re still going to push the edge to try to get the guy out of the groove to win the race,” Hamlin insisted, despite being party to the reckless act previously.

All that the NASCAR community really expects is for drivers to understand the gravity of the situation. The 32G spike recorded by Hamlin’s car was an indication that things need to change before it’s too late. “It’s not going to be worth just cleaning someone out that you know deservingly was going to win the race, which is the fair part of the sport,” concluded Hamlin.

The onus is now both on the drivers and NASCAR to keep the sport pious, with the former exercising self-policing, and the latter staying consistent with its decisions while improving the turnaround time.