NASCAR has been on a penalty spree these past few weeks. After Austin Dillon was stripped of his playoff qualification last weekend for intentional wrecking, the governing body has now dropped the hammer on Denny Hamlin. It wasn’t the driver or the crew chief who were in the wrong here, but rather Joe Gibbs Racing’s OEM partner, Toyota, who dropped the ball big time.

Denny Hamlin and the #11 are reprimanded by NASCAR with L2 penalties for violating engine rules. As a result of this penalty, Hamlin will lose a total of 75 points – effectively taking him out of contention for the regular season championship – and 10 crucial playoff points. Meanwhile, crew chief Chris Gabehart has been fined $100k. But what led to a crushing L2 penalty for Hamlin and his team?

A muck-up by TRD puts Denny Hamlin in a rough spot

Each race-winning engine must be inspected by NASCAR once the race team feels it has run its race. In Hamlin’s case, Toyota Racing Development disassembled and rebuilt the Bristol-winning engine on the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE. None of the team members at JGR knew about this, and it was TRD themselves who reported this issue to NASCAR.

“Each race-winning engine must be inspected by NASCAR once the race team determines that its life cycle is complete,” a NASCAR statement read. “In this instance, prior to presenting the engine to NASCAR for inspection, Toyota Racing Development disassembled and rebuilt the No. 11’s Bristol-winning race engine. Per the NASCAR Rule Book, this violation results in an L2 penalty to the race team and driver.” Meanwhile, TRD President David Wilson owned up to their mistake, which proved detrimental to JGR and the #11 team.

“Despite procedures being in place, Denny’s race-winning engine from Bristol was mistakenly returned to our Costa Mesa facility, disassembled, and rebuilt instead of being torn down and inspected by NASCAR per the rule book…TRD takes full responsibility for this grievous mistake, and we apologize to Denny, Chris, Coach Gibbs, the entire JGR organization, NASCAR and our fans.”

Before the race weekend in Daytona kicked off, Hamlin told reporters, “It’s like, ‘Damn it.’ This format rewards regular-season excellence, and it allows you to have a not-perfect day and still be able to race for a championship. Now I’m back there in the middle where I’m very vulnerable in some spots.” Before NASCAR handed him and the #11 team this penalty, Hamlin was third in the playoff standings. But now, he’s gone from having 21 points to 11 and is faced with a mammoth task to win his first championship.

Denny Hamlin has become notorious for losing out on the Cup Series championship owing to bizarre circumstances. Whether it was his power steering belt malfunctioning last year or his broken roof hatch in 2015, he’s now the driver with the most wins without a title. As a result of the 10-point cut, the #11 driver will have to win quite a few times in the postseason to advance to the Championship 4. And he’s not the only one upset about it.

Hamlin’s biggest on-track rival this season, Kyle Larson, said, “You guys might think I’ve been happy he got a penalty, but no. I was bummed to see that because it’s a huge penalty… You want everybody to have a fair shot… It was just a mistake.” His teammate Chase Elliott had similar comments: “I hate that because I want to race Denny. Anytime you can go head-to-head with them and outdo a team of that caliber, it’s a good thing and it’s healthy.”

Despite not tempering with the race car or trying to gain an unfair advantage, Denny Hamlin will have to bear the brunt of this ruling. And this does affect his dream of clinching the maiden Cup Series trophy this season.

How do these penalties affect Hamlin’s season going forward?

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After a top-10 result at Michigan last weekend, the veteran driver was placed 3rd in the regular season standings. But the dynamics have completely changed after this penalty; he now drops to the sixth spot, 103 points adrift of the points leader, Tyler Reddick. Moreover, he is now out of contention to win the regular-season championship and bag those all-important extra 15 bonus playoff points.

The only positive outcome of this penalty was that Hamlin would be eligible to compete in the playoffs. However, he will enter the knockout rounds with a deficit of -10 playoff points, which he earned on the racetrack through race and stage wins. This means he will have to play catch-up to the likes of Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, and Ryan Blaney.

Needless to say, Hamlin will be fuming over this blunder, which wasn’t his or his team’s fault in the first place. The only thing he can do to overcome this hurdle is add more playoff points in the upcoming two races at Daytona and Darlington.