3 times drivers openly criticized NASCAR’s controversial officiating in 2024, ft. Denny Hamlin

NASCAR's decisions are final when it comes to all three national series races at any point in time. The governing body follows a set of guidelines to put out a verdict, penalize a driver, and regulate races.

The drivers and teams have to abide by NASCAR's verdict at all times, but they have a provision of challenging the verdict. Even though drivers have to adhere to NASCAR initially (before challenging), there are multiple instances where they have aggressively called the governing body out on their verdict.

Here are three examples where drivers have publicly criticized NASCAR this season.

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#3 Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney was furious with NASCAR after he sustained a Lap 1 crash at the NASCAR playoff race at Watkins Glen this season. The Team Penske driver fell victim to an early crash as he tangled with Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell.

Ryan Blaney (12) during practice and qualifying for the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. - Source: Imagn

As a result, Blaney came to a standstill on the track, and to make matters worse for the Team Penske driver, NASCAR towed his car back to the pit road and deemed him unfit to race again. This had immense implications for the #12 driver, as his points cushion going into the NASCAR playoff race at Bristol would have vanished.

Sharing his frustration at NASCAR, he shared his criticism of the governing body in front of the media. Here's how he reacted:

"Give us a chance to fix it. How do they know if we're done or not? They have no idea of the damage. It's that I couldn't drive it back to the pit box, and we're done. You get towed back to the garage, and you can't drive it back!"

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#2 Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott called NASCAR out after the governing body fined Ricky Stenhouse Jr. $75,000 for a scuffle with Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro Speedway and then posted about the fight from its official X account.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47) during the first heat race at North Wilkesboro Speedway - Source: Imagn

Stenhouse Jr. and Busch got into a physical brawl after the two drivers collided at the All-Star Race. NASCAR immediately took cognizance of the incident and slapped the JTG Daugherty Racing driver with a whopping $75,000 file.

Interestingly, the NASCAR account later posted a video on the same incident on X. As NASCAR seemed to have attempted racking up clicks online, here's what Elliott had to say about it:

"That seems like a lot for that situation. You are going to fine him, but you are going to promote with it? Like, what are we doing? That's a little strange to me. That's a lot of money to fine a guy. It's like, 'It's not OK, but we are going to blast it all over everything to get more clicks.'"

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#1 Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin slammed NASCAR after Austin Dillon bumped into Joey Logano and Hamlin to claim the victory at Richmond. Dillon first sent Logano straight into the wall and then pushed Hamlin in the same direction as he took the Checkered Flag.

Denny Hamlin (11) wrecks after the finish of the race during the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway - Source: Imagn

Following this, Hamlin landed a scathing attack on NASCAR and called out its officiating. Here's what he had to say:

"We're never ever gonna get taken seriously as a sport because we have no real officiating. I think there's probably people in Daytona [NASCAR headquarters] who love this sh*t and they're the ones who are sending this sport backwards."

The victory temporarily put Dillon, who was in 32nd place ahead of the Richmond race, into the playoffs. However, NASCAR later revoked the Richard Childress Racing driver's playoff entry for his aggressive tactics at Richmond Raceway.