Denny Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart says NASCAR would have to penalize other cars in addition to the No. 11

The talk of the week just won’t stop being talked about. Denny Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart has now weighed in. From his perspective, a penalty to the 11 car would mean multiple NASCAR penalties in the field on that Richmond restart.

Chris Gabehart is a little biased in this situation. A little more than just a little, actually. However, he might have a point to make. When that restart fired off at Richmond, there were three Cup Series champions lined up next to and behind Hamlin.

Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, and Kyle Larson were all right there hoping to get a win. They each had their own agendas on the restart. Each of them had a plan going into that Green-White-Checkered.

On SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Chris Gabehart laid out why NASCAR didn’t call a penalty last Sunday.

“These are all really smart race car drivers and there’s chess match going on inside the approach to the restart zone that every one of them is keenly aware of, they’re not making mistakes,” Gabehart said. “They are calculated in what they’re doing and Denny as the leader is trying to counteract all that with the advantage of being able to fire first. He saw what they were doing, he made a choice to counteract it of going very very early. After reviewing the film, of course, it was slightly out of the zone, but keep in mind this is all happening live with four veterans. They know the situation he’s in and they’re calculating based upon it.

“So, I think the biggest thing I could say is, it’s a tough spot that we’re in and in my view, it wouldn’t matter if it was the 11 car that was in this position, or we were the 19 or 22, I would say this exactly the same way, so let me be clear: If you’re going to penalize the 11 car in that instance, you must also penalize the 19 [Truex], the 22 [Logano], and the 5 [Larson],” Chris Gabehart continued. “Because they were all laying back trying to time a run and that is also something that NASCAR says you can’t do. So, is that really what we want our sanctioning body to do? Is start calling feet throughout the entire field.

“Because then you have to look at the video and say ‘Well which car wasn’t laying back trying to get a run, okay I think it was the seventh-place car, we’ll make him the winner.’ I mean, is that really what we want? So, I just think we got to be really careful what we wish for in this particular instance.”

Chris Gabehart makes a great argument. Yes, he is the winning crew chief. But there is nuance when it comes to these restarts. The leader determines the restart. When cars lay back, they take that advantage away. A penalty for Hamlin would mean a penalty for others.

NASCAR fans do not want the sanctioning body determining races. No one does. There is room for discussion on the matter. But, like Chris Gabehart said, be careful what you wish for.