. IfThere is no certainty about what NASCAR will do after recent events. Inconsistency seems to be the trend of the sport, as controversy continues to burn around the Damaged Vehicle Policy. The Yellawood  500 race witnessed the largest melee of cars bunched up in a smoking ‘Big One’. That unexpected chaos elicited a questionable ruling as well – officials chose to repair only a few cars, including that of Chase Elliott.

This apparent favoritism is concerning for the Most Popular Driver’s rivals, and Denny Hamlin is one of them. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver got away with a top-ten finish and a 30-point edge over the elimination line at Talladega. However, NASCAR’s egregious display of unequal treatment concerns him, as he also may fall prey to the DVP soon.

Denny Hamlin is wary of NASCAR’s moves

Furthermore, the Talladega debacle was preceded by two questionable DVP rulings. Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford gave out on the first lap at Watkins Glen, and officials flagged it as ineligible to continue. Then Josh Berry’s No. 4 Ford was struck in the right rear and sent sliding with four flats on lap 1 of the Kansas race – and he suffered Blaney’s fate. Yet, at Talladega, NASCAR disregarded its own regulation by towing out Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe, while a group of 25 wrecked cars sat still and untouched.

This apparent Hendrick Motorsports favoritism and inconsistency concerned Denny Hamlin. While he battles against NASCAR’s monopolistic practices, a sense of frustration lingers, as he contemplates the potential negative consequences of the DVP. He talked about it at a pre-race press conference for the Charlotte race. “I would say that, yeah, certainly there’s gonna be unintended consequences to it right? …When you tow cars back into pit road…when do you open pit road? Do you just wait, wait, wait, then you got some fuel mileage issues, and people need to pit? Next thing you know, a tow truck is sitting in their pit stall.”

NASCAR executives confirmed the DVP terms they are going to abide by for the remainder of this season. If a race car has flat tires and looks okay but cannot be driven back, the car will be towed back to its pit stall. The team would need to change tires and finish repairs within the 7-minute time frame. Even with this clarity, Denny Hamlin is not confident. He continued: “While this is evolved, it’s going to have kinks in it that we don’t plan for. So you just hope that I don’t know. If there’s a multi-car wreck, you just hope you’re the first one to get to it. Because it certainly will be a big advantage to do.” 

And Talladega was not the first time Chase Elliott became NASCAR’s pet.

Picking the golden boy for some time

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Well, even Chase Elliott lashed out at NASCAR’s incompetency in Talladega. But that does not invalidate the countless times the sanctioning body appeared to show favor towards him and his HMS teammates. After Kyle Larson attempted the Double, he missed the Coca-Cola 600 race due to a rain delay. Yet NASCAR granted him playoff eligibility. Similarly, back in July, Bubba Wallace’s post-race fury at the Chicago Street Race caught NASCAR’s attention, and Wallace incurred a $50,000 fine. But Chase Elliott escaped the officials’ penalty radar.

Elliott was racing Daniel Suarez on the last lap of the road course race when their cars made contact. Although Elliott claimed they “barely rubbed doors,” Suarez’s interpretation was different. “He was probably 10 car lengths behind, but the last lap I passed two cars that were slow, and I was trying to take my time passing these people because I knew I was going to pass them, anyway. He caught me then, and he pushed me into the 11 (Denny Hamlin) pretty hard toward the six (Keselowski).” He added, “So, what happens if I wasn’t paying attention and I was getting hit, he was gonna get fined? But just because I was paying attention and I didn’t get hit, he’s not gonna be fined? That’s a little bit tricky.”

Evidently, Denny Hamlin may have reason to be concerned, as Chase Elliott has received favor before. Nonetheless, let us hope for less DVP ruling and more exciting action at Charlotte.