Denny Hamlin remains “pretty much hands off” regarding JGR penalty connection to 23XI Racing

23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin reacted to Chase Briscoe and the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing team's massive L2 level penalty and how it affects the processes at his team. Hamlin suggested that he is not directly involved in assembling the cars at 23XI but the penalty has prompted the team to review its procedures.

Briscoe secured pole position in his debut outing for JGR but was handed an L2-level penalty after NASCAR found a modified spoiler base. The #19 JGR team lost 100 driver/owner points, 10 playoff points, crew chief James Small for four races, and was given a hefty $100,000 fine for modifying a single source supplier part.

After Joe Gibbs Racing clarified that the issue stemmed from the assembly process, Hamlin was asked whether it impacted 23XI Racing given the team's close alliance with JGR. Hamlin explained that he takes a hands-off approach to such technical matters but emphasized that 23XI would review its processes to avoid similar penalties.

"Yeah, I'm pretty [much] hands off it. Truthfully, I kind of let them make all the decisions on how to put the car together and what not. There's certainly a strong alliance with 23XI and JGR, that when we look at the processes, we certainly look at that and say, '[Is it] a process issue that we've got to make sure, we don't do on our end.'" he told Bob Pockrass.

Joe Gibbs Racing also announced its decision to appeal the massive penalty and elaborated that spoiler base holes exceeded the limits due to supplied part interferences. The statement read:

"Joe Gibbs Racing will appeal the penalty issued by NASCAR to the No. 19 Cup Series team today. The issue in question was caused in the assembly process when bolts used to attach the spoiler base to the deck lid caused the pre-drilled holes to wear due to supplied part interferences."

After a 100-point deduction, Briscoe currently sits last in the standings at -67 points.

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Denny Hamlin sheds light on Joe Gibbs Racing sponsorship situation

Denny Hamlin and the #11 JGR parted ways with long-time sponsor FedEx after the 2024 season, leaving Joe Gibbs Racing with the mighty task of filling the void. After losing an anchor sponsor that had been with the team for the past two decades, Hamlin discussed the evolving sponsorship strategies at JGR.

Speaking to the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he said [via Frontstretch.com]:

"Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of good talks going on, a lot of good meetings and what not, as regards to the #11 car and obviously when you have someone that's part of the sport for 20 years like FedEx was then it's certainly makes things a lot easier. But this is a different time and certainly we feel confident that we'll get through these things throughout the year." [00:30]

Hamlin's #11 Toyota was sponsored by National Debt Relief for the season opener at Daytona and three additional races. JGR has also secured sponsorship deals with King's Hawaiian, Sport Clips and Yahoo for the #11 team.