Denny Hamlin on Riley Herbst restart penalty at Daytona: ‘We need more explanation’

Denny Hamlin had some choice words for NASCAR after Riley Herbst was controversially penalized near the end of the Xfinity Series race at Daytona on Monday evening.

Herbst was sitting P2 with only a couple of laps remaining in the race, but then he was penalized by NASCAR for laying back on the restart, which he vehemently denied afterwards. It took away a major shot at a win for Herbst, who’s trying to prove he’s among the best in the series in 2024.

During the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin touched on the penalty, explaining why he wasn’t a fan of NASCAR’s call, and their lack of transparency on the matter.

“I don’t like that at all,” Hamlin stated. “He’s got a point, in the sense of like, ‘NASCAR, I can’t be in front of them.’ That was a traveling call, when traveling happens all the time. That was tough, to take Riley out of the race with a few laps to go, on that.

“And again, here’s the problem right, he’s saying, ‘No, I’m doing what I’m supposed to.’ He’s (the leader) supposed to control it. I lagged back to allow him to control it. But then I went when he went. We had no data proof of any of it. This is where technology needs to come into play. They show us on TV, because we’re all saying, ‘That’s kind of bogus.’ It’s not bogus, they obviously looked at something and deemed that he jumped the start, or whatever he did that they got him for, but we had no confirmation of that.”

Continuing, Hamlin likened the decision to calls in other sports, like basketball and football, believing the lack of a solid explanation makes the call even more frustrating.

“Like we have an instant replay in basketball when a foul’s called, to confirm is it a foul or is it not. In football, is he inbounds or is he not. In racing, we just rely on, ‘Well that’s the call,’ and we have no explanation on why,” Hamlin added. “We need an explanation of why, because I would’ve liked to have seen, did he hit the gas early? Before (the leader). … We need more explanation.

“While you just telling us it’s a violation is great, we need replays to show is that the right call or not, because this is a ball and strike call, and I would like confirmation whether it was a ball or not.”

Essentially, Denny Hamlin is asking for a strike zone, which shouldn’t be too much to request of NASCAR. Time will tell if the sport’s decision-makers listen to him, but Riley Herbst won’t get back that opportunity regardless, and that bugs the young driver, along with the veteran wheelman.