Last weekend, Denny Hamlin tangled with his latest, and fiercest rival, Ross Chastain at the Phenix Raceway. Later on, he later shot himself in the foot in his Actions Detrimental podcast, where he openly admitted that his contact with the Trackhouse Racing driver was deliberate. Unfortunately for Hamlin, it appeared that NASCAR was listening in on his podcast because they later penalized him.

This triggered a massive debate, with one faction insisting that the penalty should have been more strict. Interestingly, Dale Earnhardt Jr headed another faction, which had a different opinion. They declared that the $50,000 and a 25-point penalty were severe enough. He even cited the example of Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022. According to Earnhardt Jr, the Hamlin situation and Wallace situation were two different scenarios.

However, fans did not have the same perspective.

Some NASCAR fans called for consistency in dishing out penalties

According to some, the fact that both incidents were caused intentionally warranted the same penalty. In Bubba Wallace‘s case, he was slapped with a one-race suspension, but Hamlin also had the fine and point deduction. In 2019, Wallace also confessed to spinning intentionally at the Texas Motor Speedway. That misdemeanor resulted in a $50,000 fine and a 50-point deduction.

At the end of the day, some were of the opinion that Hamlin should have faced a suspension like Wallace. To them, it simply smacks of inconsistency, where the same offense has different consequences. In defense of this though, it is entirely possible that Wallace could have gotten away with a fine as well.

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Unfortunately, he complicated his own situation by trying to pick a fight with Larson on the track, right in front of everyone.

NASCAR fans cited other examples to defend Denny Hamlin

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Some were a bit baffled when the Hamlin punishment came to light. They cited the example of Ty Gibbs during the 2022 Xfinity Series race at Martinsville. At the time, he was battling for the race lead with teammate Brandon Jones and Noah Gragson. On the final lap, Gibbs punted Jones out of the lead and went on to win the race.

Other people brought up Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron, who has been on a roll this season. Last year, the #24 driver got into a spot of trouble at the Texas Motor Speedway. During a caution period, Byron spun Hamlin out of the race but somehow escaped any sanction.

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