“I Misbehaved & Deserved” – Jimmie Johnson “Shocked” With NASCAR’s Verdict on Denny Hamlin-William Byron Incident

William Byron got hit with a hefty penalty of 25 points and $50,000 for his actions last week. Of course, he was facing the consequences of spinning Denny Hamlin under yellow. But luckily for him, NASCAR agreed to hear his plea today. Former Hendrick Motorsports star Jimmie Johnson said something shocking about the penalty.

But it’s not something completely unexpected.

When talking about the hearing, the seven-time Cup Series Champion gave his two cents on the penalty. And he might be one of the few people saying Byron didn’t mean to spin Hamlin. He said, “When I saw it on television, I didn’t think that William meant to send Denny through the infield. I think he was as surprised as anybody that Denny went spinning.”

He even stressed that he has never seen NASCAR penalize a driver like this. Johnson explained, “In my history in driving, I’ve never seen NASCAR get in and take points away like this. So, I was kinda shocked with it. And for William’s sake, I hope there’s some kind of reduction in points and this appeal is seen differently.”

Yet, the driver said sometimes a driver has to prove themselves, “There’s always those moments in time when you have to prove yourself and earn that right. I certainly felt like I misbehaved and deserved some of what I did, and other times I didn’t know what was happening.”

Sure seems like the driver is defending Byron. Still, he acknowledges the times when you need to retaliate. So, could he indirectly be saying that the #24 could have possibly done it on purpose? Because Freddie Kraft and TJ Majors sure think so.

NASCAR Insiders disagree with Jimmie Johnson’s stance on William Byron

Bubba Wallace’s spotter and TJ Majors very firmly disagreed with the HMS legend. In fact, they emphasized you can quite obviously see Byron intentionally hitting Hamlin.

TJ argues that the #24 car obviously wrecked Hamlin, “Every car has an in-car camera when the yellow’s clearly out in the middle of [corner] 3 and 4 and he gets to him, and you clearly hear the motor rev up and hit him. I don’t know what else you would need.”

Kraft seemed to agree “I mean listen, they literally posted a video of it. NASCAR, NASCAR themselves posted a video of William driving through the back of Denny and then they come out and say we didn’t see it.”

Read More: NASCAR Insiders, Including Michael Jordan’s Team Member, Hint at Hendrick Motorsports Bias in Denny Hamlin Episode

What’s your take on all this? Are you team Johnson? Or did Byron really mess up? Let us know in the comments.