A crushing news for Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing has recently surfaced. JGR’s engine development partner, Toyota, has self-reported a major lapse in following NASCAR rules. The subsequent penalty awarded by NASCAR to JGR had a debilitating impact on the team’s championship standing.

There is no doubt that Denny Hamlin must be in shambles after the disclosure as he drops from third to sixth in the rankings. But Hamlin has shown a lot of resilience and grit this season on multiple occasions. This is the time for him to get over the adversity and keep charging forward because much is at stake.

What did NASCAR penalize JGR for?

Toyota has disclosed that it erringly left NASCAR devoid of a chance to inspect Denny Hamlin’s #11 car engine as per the norms. Instead of ripping the engine off and having it inspected, Toyota ended up transporting the engine to its Costa Mesa facility and getting it reassembled.

Bob Pockrass tweeted TRD USA President, David Wilson’s statement snippet, which took the entire responsibility for the mishap. Wilson apologized for the debacle and assured everyone about the renewed processes that have been put in place. Unfortunately, Hamlin has been shot down by NASCAR ripping him off 75 driver and owner points, since Hamlin won his Bristol race with this engine. In addition, his 10 playoff points have also been snatched, leaving him with just 11 now.

There is discussion in the fan community about the implications of this unforeseeable event and the recourse to get out of the slump.

Fans are disgusted with Toyota for the negligence

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Many NASCAR fans have expressed their disappointment with Toyota. One user wrote, “Send them straight to jail and ban them from this sport.” The intense emotions that fans are going through must be nothing compared to Denny Hamlin’s state of mind. Another user added, “What’s missing is “We’ll be paying Chris Gabehart’s fine to NASCAR.” The team has also been fined a hefty $100,000 apart from the points deductions.

A user suggested for JGR to appeal: “I’m not a Denny Hamlin fan but it seems the penalty for the infraction needs to be taken up with TRD instead of the race team itself. Are there any grounds for the 11 team to appeal?” One fan commented, “so basically TRD just ended dennys season” With such a brutal point reduction, the season is likely to end disastrously for the Florida driver.

However, some fans highlighted NASCAR’s lack of supervision in the matter. A user wrote, “Bristol was 5 months ago, would NASCAR have even noticed had they not self-reported?” While it is true that the impact of this infraction is humongous on Hamlin and JGR, TRD’s honesty must also be appreciated.

Nonetheless, fans were mostly angry with the giant mistake, as one user wrote, “Someone is getting fired.“

Let us wait and watch if there’s actually any hope for Hamlin in the case.