This season has been pretty hot and cold for Denny Hamlin. He has already won 3 races this year and has a spot in the playoffs. But we all know that Denny Hamlin is not the luckiest driver when it comes to the playoffs. Daytona did not play out how he wanted and there is not much that is more disappointing than a P38 finish.

Denny Hamlin was involved in a massive crash during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. The crash occurred in Stage 2 of the race and involved multiple cars where he was just an innocent bystander who got dragged into the madness caused by Corey LaJoie and others. But this was not the only thing that went wrong for him that was out of his control.

Toyota’s mix-up adds to Denny Hamlin’s misfortune

Denny Hamlin was recently penalized for something that happened after the March 17 race at Bristol. Toyota mistakenly disassembled Hamlin’s winning car from that race, which led to him getting a penalty. The reason for the delay in the news is still unknown, but what we do know for a fact is that Hamlin and team owner Joe Gibbs were each docked 75 driver points and 10 playoff points.

To make things worse, Hamlin’s Bristol win no longer counts towards eligibility for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Lucky for him, he won Richmond and Dover, which means that he will remain in the playoffs, but after Daytona, who knows what will happen at the next race?

Hamlin does have one thing going for him, though. In recent history, he has been the most dominant driver at Darlington, which is the next and last race of the season before the playoffs. Being the rank 1 driver in terms of most races won at Darlington with 4 wins in the bag, he also has the best average finish. What makes his average finish more impressive is that he is the only one with a single-digit number coming in at an average of 8.3.

Another thing that is going for him is that he has never had a DNF at Darlington, which is a good sign. With the next race being the final decider of who will be in the playoffs, will Denny Hamlin take this chance to recover from the Bristol penalty that cost him playoff points? This is something only time will tell.

The fact that NASCAR hit Denny Hamlin with a penalty after over 6 months with the penalty has many fans wondering what exactly went down. And Denny Hamlin had things to say about the incident.

Hamlin’s response to the Bristol penalties

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For the Bristol race, with no direct fault of Denny Hamlin or Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Racing Development accidentally dismantled the winning car’s engine. However, according to NASCAR rules, all race-winning engines must remain sealed and be completely inspected by NASCAR before disassembly. Toyota Racing Development accidentally violated this rule by rebuilding the engine before NASCAR inspected it.

In the end, TRD acknowledged their mistake and took full responsibility for it, but the damage was done. After the incident, Hamlin took to social media to discuss the matter, and that’s where he revealed that the car was accidentally sent to Costa Mesa instead of the NASCAR officials. This was the cause for the L2 penalty that has put the JGR driver in a tough spot. But rules are rules and after taking care of the fines and having their points struck off, Hamlin hopes to have a redemption race at Darlington.

With that said, do you think Denny Hamlin will match Kyle Larson for 4 races won this season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.