The recent Cup Series race at the Bristol Motor Speedway proved to be tricky for a few drivers as it was a dirt track. For Christopher Bell, it was the first victory of the season whereas for Kyle Larson it turned into a nightmare because of rival Ryan Preece.

The #41 Stewart-Haas Racing driver was engaged in multiple side contacts with Kyle Larson that led to Larson spinning out and ending up in the 35th position. The situation is similar to that of Denny Hamlin. However, the point of difference is the admittance of the act. Following this incident, Hamlin’s spotter opened up about irregularities in NASCAR’s approach to penalty situations.

Chris Lambert, the spotter for Denny Hamlin, questions NASCAR’s inconsistencies

The JGR driver was penalized $50,000 along with a 25-point penalty for intentionally wrecking Ross Chastain during the Cup Series race at the Phoenix Raceway. However, this is not the case with the SHR driver whose contact with Larson looked pretty much intentional.

During the latest episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Chris Lambert calls out NASCAR for such an attitude. He said, “It hit the #11 team pretty hard. We gave basically over whole racing points away which is driver points so it doesn’t affect the owner stuff. But it was tough to see and I just don’t know where the line in the sand is.”

Denny Hamlin admitted to having intentionally wrecked Chastain whereas Preece abstained from doing so, and it can be argued that he wasn’t penalized because of this. Lambert questioned, “Is what Ryan Preece did last night the same thing that Denny did? What he said on the radio versus what he actually did so I don’t know. It’s tough to understand where it is.”

Watch This Story: “Ross [Chastain] manipulated it”- NASCAR insider put the sport under heavy scrutiny, proclaiming they “Screwed up Denny’s penalty”

For now, Preece hasn’t been issued a penalty, probably because of his post-race interview which makes us further question NASCAR’s ability to determine intention.

NASCAR couldn’t determine the intention behind the act yet again

It’s not the first time that NASCAR missed out on issuing a penalty because of being unable to decode the intention. Even Hamlin was penalized only after he admitted his intention behind wrecking the Trackhouse Racing driver on his podcast.

Ryan Preece, on the other hand, during the post-race interview took the defense of being inexperienced in dirt races, and said that owing to low traction, he couldn’t control his car properly. This resulted in no penalty for Preece.

Read More: “Hamlin Precedent” Forces Ryan Preece to Backtrack as NASCAR World Goes Crazy Over Kyle Larson Incident

NASCAR’s inconsistencies are not something alien to the community. Will NASCAR depend on the drivers to admit their act or will some parameters will be put forth to assess the intention? Followers of the sport would like to know.