Denny Hamlin encountered "highest ever" impact in Austin Dillon's Richmond wreck

Denny Hamlin's crew chief Chris Gabehart has highlighted that the 43-year-old faced the highest-ever G-force in Joe Gibbs Racing's NextGen history. This comes after Austin Dillon wrecked Hamlin's #11 Toyota to clear the path to his maiden win, since his last triumph at the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400 hosted by the Daytona International Speedway.

After losing the lead to Joey Logano before the final lap, Dillon charged back for the domination and wrecked out the Team Penske driver. He then went for the JGR driver's car, which became the automatic leader, rushing Hamlin for a door slam onto the outside wall.

Though the impact was hard, the 43-year-old winner masterfully saved himself from a bigger misery and placed his Toyota in second place.

In 2022, when the NextGen or the Gen-7 car debuted in NASCAR, JGR's then-driver, Kurt Busch, violently drifted into the outside wall while running the qualifying session at the Pocono Raceway. The crash recorded a G-force of 30g, ultimately leading to his NASCAR retirement after he missed the entire season due to lingering effects from concussion.

However, Denny Hamlin's crew chief explained the #11 driver had recorded the highest G-Force with his 32Gs upon impact at Richmond. With that, he has surpassed his former teammate.

“Do you wanna know what the highest recorded g spike in the history of Gen-7 was for JGR? It was Richmond and the 11 car. Sunday night, 32g spike in the wall off Turn 4 coming to the checkered flag. Highest ever recorded," Gabehart said via Sportsnaut.

While Austin Dillon gets to keep his race win, he also received a penalty, as his playoff spot has been stripped.

Denny Hamlin's crew chief suggested NASCAR speed up their decision-making amid Austin Dillon's penalty

NASCAR announced penalties for Austin Dillon and the #3 team on Wednesday, around 60 hours after the controversy sparked on the 0.750-mile oval. Dillon's playoff eligibility stood invalid and he and RCR were each docked 25 driver's and owner's points.

According to Section 12.3.2.1.b of the NASCAR Rule Book,

"Race finishes must be unencumbered by violation(s) of the NASCAR Rules or other action(s) detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR."

Denny Hamlin's crew chief expressed that though NASCAR "got it right" with the penalty, he emphasized faster decisions from the officials.

"It's easier for me to say this in that case, is they got it right with the exception of this. I want us to get to a world where the officials feel empowered to make those decisions 60 hours ahead of time, live," Gabehart said via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (0:06).

As Austin Dillon has been kicked out of the playoffs, RFK Racing's Chris Buescher has found his way back above the cutline in 16th place. Meanwhile, with three wins to his name, Denny Hamlin is second in the playoff picture behind Kyle Larson, who has four race wins.