Denny Hamlin drags NASCAR official as Insider gives ‘extra context’ on recent rule shift, revealing the committee behind the change

Denny Hamlin name called NASCAR official Mike Forde as Insider Matt Weaver updated the community about the recent rule change, revealing the committee behind it. A few days back, it was announced that NASCAR had placed restrictions on Truck Series pit crews' firesuits.

To curb the extensive operational motorsports costs, NASCAR imposed a new rule that prohibited the pit crew from using any design other than the one approved by the governing them. Moreover, the behind-the-wall firesuits will have no sponsorship branding and will be donned by the personnel who don't enter the pit road during the race. However, they can have Craftsman, Sunoco, and NASCAR's logos at their discretion.

Weaver shared the latest update about the rule change, claiming that the Truck Series consists of a collaboration committee including NASCAR and seven Truck teams responsible for 24 entries. The insider also mentioned that the collaboration committee proposed the cost-cutting idea to which NASCAR inked its approval.

"Some extra context I've been given: The Truck Series has a collaboration committee consisting of NASCAR and seven teams representing 24 entries. Told this concept was suggested by the committee to cut costs and NASCAR approved it," Weaver wrote.

While Weaver didn't mention the teams behind it, the hands of big Truck Series organizations like Tricon Garage, Spire Motorsports, Niece Motorsports, and ThorSport, to name a few, can be speculated.

The update caught Denny Hamlin's attention and he tagged NASCAR Managing Director of Racing Communications Mike Forde in the thread.

"@mforde has entered the chat," Denny Hamlin wrote.

When Denny Hamlin and Mike Forde debated over the NASCAR playoff format

Following the controversial Martinsville race, Denny Hamlin critiqued the playoff system and outlined the repercussions if Joey Logano won the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series title. The JGR driver uncovered his chat with Mike Forde about the backlash concerning the knockout system.

Hamlin disclosed that Forde didn't buy into the fans' criticism and blamed the backlash on the bots. However, Forde explained what he meant when a NASCAR fan expanded on Hamlin's take and criticized the official for bringing up the bot conversation.

"I'm not going to share the whole conversation with Denny, because that's not fair to him," Forde wrote on X. "But, he suggested that Twitter/X was the information capital of the world. I said that's a tricky statement, because there are ton of bots. It wasn't a direct reference to NASCAR topics," he Tweeted.

Had the current playoff system not been in practice, Kyle Larson who scored the most wins this season (6) would've gotten a shot at his second Cup Series title, but due to the knockout format where four drivers are eliminated after every third race, the HMS driver couldn't make past the Round of 8.

Hamlin finished this season's Cup Series in eighth position, having won three races.