"I feel negative about it" - Denny Hamlin crowns recent engine penalty as the most unfortunate moment of his NASCAR career

With Denny Hamlin recently being penalized by NASCAR for an L2-level violation, he was asked a few questions surrounding it. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver's #11 Toyota Camry - from his Bristol win earlier this season - was found to be in violation of Sections 14.7.1.E&F and 14.7.1.1.B&E of the NASCAR Rule Book.

Because of this, he and Joe Gibbs Racing saw 72 points and 10 playoff points taken away from them, along with a hefty fine for Chris Gabehart (Hamlin's crew chief) of $100,000.

Ahead of this weekend's race at Daytona, Hamlin was asked whether this recent penalty tops the list of the unfortunate moments he has suffered in his career. Some of these are the Hail Melon move at Martinsville in 2022, the Homestead failure from 2023, and the Talladega roof hatch moment from 2015.

"This definitely tops it for sure because it was something that didn't happen in a certain moment right it was, 'Hey we got to go back to kind of tell you what happened a while ago so.' But I mean should I be surprised? I don't think so. It's hard to not feel and be negative in the moment and I am in the moment I feel negative about it, not about the decision or anything like that just about our season and potentially what it could or couldn't do," Hamlin said [1:50].

Following this response, Hamlin was asked whether he knew why he experienced such moments. The veteran NASCAR driver said he wished he had an answer, calling such moments "absolute[ly] random." But Hamlin added it was up to him and the team to win races and perform to the best of their capabilities.

"I think if we have the results that equal the same as our performance we'll still make it and everything will be fine it's just the sample size is about to get real small and it just takes away all that room for air in a time where sport can be random," Hamlin added.

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Denny Hamlin on penalty as catalyst for motivation for Phoenix push

Despite his 54 wins tying him for 12th on the all-time wins list, Denny Hamlin hasn't won a Cup championship in his career.

Because of the recent penalty pushing him further down the regular season standings, and leaving him with less room for error in the playoff standings, Hamlin was asked whether the penalty could serve as a catalyst for him to push to Phoenix.

Hamlin said that his recent penalty wouldn't change a lot with regard to his mindset and motivation from the usual.

"I'm motivated every single week. I really am...to win every stage, win every race and I feel like I put my best foot forward every single week. You can get a spur of motivation from things like this, absolutely. I think that the team received it in a sense where they're motivated, I'm certainly motivated," Hamlin said [3:20].

But the #11 driver further added that he doesn't need the motivation. He said all he needs are results, and going forward he was going to do his best to get his team the results it deserved.