On Earth, there are three things one can bet their bottom dollar on- death, government taxes, and Denny Hamlin putting the pedal to the metal on the pit road. Handing out penalties for rule-breaking has been NASCAR’s hobby of choice for the past couple of years, especially since those snazzy next-gen cars hit the track in 2022. Despite some of the tweaks to these cars getting a big no-no from NASCAR, that hasn’t stopped drivers and their crews from dipping their toes in forbidden waters, often landing them in hot water with some hefty fines.

But with Denny Hamlin and his #11 crew, it’s not the car parts that have been the issue; it’s their need for speed in the pit lane that’s racked up penalties like nobody’s business. However, NASCAR’s penalty lineup got hampered in 2023. Denny Hamlin’s name was conspicuously absent from the most penalized list, leaving fans wondering where their favorite speedster went. 

Denny Hamlin has improved on the pit road speeding problem

2022 was one hell of a year for Denny Hamlin, who seemed to have a knack for collecting pit road penalties like they were going out of style – a whopping 17 of them! Then in 2021, Denny Hamlin tied with Kyle Larson, each with eight penalties. Come 2023, and it looks like Hamlin’s gotten smarter – he’s only picked up four of those.

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One of the pit road penalties of Hamlin’s to remember would be the Talladega race in 2023. Hamlin entered the race with a 35-point lead, but suddenly, on the 105th lap, he got slapped with a speeding penalty during a green flag. He was given a pass-through penalty and a lap down. And then, what could only happen in NASCAR, happened: a well-timed yellow flag on lap 163 turned the tables, catapulting Hamlin right back into the action on the lead lap.

Actually, Hamlin’s top-5 finish at Talladega turned out to be a thing of beauty, especially considering he had to fight his way back from that mid-race mishap. And while we’re still on the subject of penalties, in 2023, Corey LaJoie was also in the mix, starting from the back a whopping six times. Apparently, Michael McDowell and Ty Dillon were unknowingly competing for the title of NASCAR’s most penalized drivers of the year. On the other hand, Kevin Harvick, William Byron, and Justin Haley kept their noses clean, making it on the least penalized list. So, it seems Denny Hamlin may have taken his foot off the gas a bit this year, or possibly he’s just gotten slipperier about it!

But despite all these events, 2023 turned out to be a bit of a breather with fewer penalties than the last couple of years for the teams and drivers.

NASCAR penalties were consecutively reduced for the 2nd year

Breaking it down- in the 2021 season, NASCAR was slapping penalties left, right, and center – 317 in 36 races. But in 2022, the number went down a notch to 312. Sure, it’s not like NASCAR went from strict to super chill overnight, but well, a drop is a drop. Now, in 2023, the penalty count dipped even further to 293. It makes everyone wonder- Is NASCAR going soft on the rules, or are the drivers just getting better at dodging those penalties? Maybe it’s a bit of both!

Pit road speeding penalties followed a similar trend. In 2021, drivers got caught speeding 141 times. The following year, they seemed to watch their speedometers a bit more, with penalties dropping to 134. And in 2023? Well, the number held steady.

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Now, here’s the inside scoop noted by a NASCAR aficionado: 

•  Five teams got their knuckles rapped with a total of 395 points and 45 playoff points stripped away.
•  Every full-timer got caught speeding at least once.
•  Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott only got a couple of flags, but since they didn’t race the whole season, they’re not in the ‘least penalized’ club.
•  Kansas nabbed the title for the most penalties dished out two years running.
•  B.J. McLeod earned the dubious honor of ‘most penalized driver’ yet again.
•  Byron’s managed to stay out of trouble, ranking among the least penalized for another year.

Got any more penalty trivia from 2023? Drop it in the comments and join the conversation!