NASCAR has been handing out punishment left and right in recent regard. From Austin Dillon’s desperate double shove at Richmond to Denny Hamlin’s uninspected Bristol-winning engine, the sport’s governing body is not messing about.

Considering all the circumstances, most would agree the penalties for Dillon’s deliberate infractions were just about fair. However, the ones NASCAR imposed on Hamlin & his #11 team feel quite the contrary. Even his teammate, who was the most affected by him jumping the final restart in Bristol back in March, admitted it did not feel right at a pre-race presser at Daytona. And Martin Truex Jr.’s views on the entire issue echo the wider calls of the NASCAR community on how questionable the verdict has truly been.

Martin Truex Jr.’s ‘balanced’ perspective on the Denny Hamlin penalty

Before Hamlin’s L2 penalty this week, Austin Dillon & Joey Logano faced the wrath of NASCAR for their respective parts to play in the highly debated Richmond encounter on August 11. Logano may have escaped with only a $50,000 fine for his unappealing burnout near Austin Dillon’s family members on the pit road. Dillon wasn’t so lucky. NASCAR revoked his Richmond win from playoff eligibility, suspended his spotter Brandon Benesch for three races (now only one after RCR’s most recent appeal), and docked Dillon 25 points for spinning out Logano and Hamlin on the last lap.

In contrast, NASCAR penalized Denny Hamlin with a 75-point championship deduction, 10 lost playoff points, and a $100,000 fine for his crew chief, Chris Gabehart. All for an engine that Toyota Racing Development accidentally misplaced and rebuilt instead of handing it over to tech for inspection. David Wilson, President of TRD himself, cleared the #11 team of any wrongdoing, stating, “TRD takes full responsibility for this grievous mistake, and we apologize to Denny, Chris, Coach Gibbs, the entire JGR organization, NASCAR, and our fans.”

This ‘grievous mistake’ has sent Denny Hamlin tumbling down to sixth in the regular season championship standings. Hence, it had turned into the topic of the hour before the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400. Naturally, the media turned to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and TRD ally, Truex, for his thoughts before his last shot at a Daytona win in his full-time NASCAR career. These were his initial reflections on the matter: “I mean, obviously, it was a big oops but yeah, got to feel for them you know, him and his team. Just because it literally had nothing to do with them.” 

Truex clarified his stance on Hamlin and the #11 team, prompting a media member to ask him if NASCAR could penalize the OEM without penalizing the #11 team, especially when they weren’t wrong. In his own words, the #19 driver wittily replied, “Yeah I don’t really know. Somebody else was asking me, ‘Why did they penalize them?’ I’m like, ’cause they didn’t know what else to do.’ Like it was the #11s engine, so I guess that’s what kind of put him in that spot… I mean it was obviously, an honest mistake because they came forward with it. But I don’t know really what’s right. It doesn’t feel right, but somebody’s got to take the fall. So I don’t know how else you do it.”

Despite TRD officials insisting on Hamlin’s innocence, the #11 team will face the consequences of this sudden decision, six months after the Bristol race conclusion. The race made headlines for its unusual tire wear and saw Martin Truex Jr. lose his cool on the cooldown lap after Denny Hamlin jumped the final restart, costing Truex what could’ve been his first win of the 2024 season. He let his frustrations fly on the rear bumper of the #11 after finishing second. This led to another press associate asking the man,

In jest, drawing the smiles of everyone around him, Truex sarcastically replied, “I honestly never even thought of that. But maybe that would have been better.” The Joe Gibbs Racing star concluded, “Yeah, I don’t know…it’s just a tough situation for everyone.” 

As a nearly two-decade-long NASCAR veteran, Martin Truex Jr. surely notices the bigger picture. After all, he has faced his share of engine issues this year on his #19 Toyota Camry XSE. On days where the New Jersey native looked certain of locking in his playoff berth, he faltered for issues well stretched beyond just engines and onto the broader debate of the Next-Gen vehicles’ efficiency. Regardless, Martin Truex Jr. is attempting a feat he hasn’t in his long, storied NASCAR career this weekend—a win at the Daytona International Speedway. And he’s also hinting at a 2025 surprise for his admirers.

Moving on from Bristol woes and onwards to Daytona destiny

On Saturday, MTJ’s younger brother, Ryan Truex, won his first race at Daytona. The 32-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity part-timer took the race team’s #20 GR Supra to victory lane for his second time this season. A Truex family sweep at Daytona would indeed be wholesome, considering it would help Martin claim his spot in the playoffs for good, with a confirmed regular-season win in his column.

Qualifying in P17, some would count Truex out based on that sole reason. But anything can happen at any time on a drafting track, especially on one with the history of Daytona International Speedway.

Ryan Truex made his full-time debut at the ‘World Center of Racing’ back at the 2006 Daytona 500 with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Almost 20 years later, DEI does not exist, and he will start for the last time in Xfinity, wheeling a car that belongs to Joe Gibbs Racing. But on a more positive note, Truex also let slip during the press conference that his 2025 Daytona 500 seat is ‘all but done.’

That said, which team Ryan Truex races for has still not been determined. It could be a one-off appearance or an annual affair. Nothing is yet too certain. But as for a last hurrah on a track that has denied him a win on his 38 Cup Series outings? The chances are never too slim with a former Cup Series champion.