"It really is an easy call": Denny Hamlin hopeful of radical shift in NASCAR officiating after Austin Dillon penalty

Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on Austin Dillon's penalty and the effect it might have on future NASCAR rulings. Hamlin was one of the two drivers Dillon had wrecked on his way to the victory lane last Sunday at Richmond, but a few days later, NASCAR penalized the RCR driver.

It was something Denny Hamlin was confronted with on Saturday, when a reporter asked him how he would fix the system and whether the penalty has already done so.

“I certainly hope so. I certainly would love to see it called in real time, going forward.

"I think there is going to be an opportunity, in a few weeks, for NASCAR to perhaps use the bottom series to start to set precedence for us and let people know that they are not going to put up with intentional wrecking for wins," Hamlin said. [2:35]

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver mentioned the incidents from the past that could fall under the new precedence set by the Dillon penalty.

To Hamlin, his incident with Chase Elliott in 2017 was one where he intentionally made contact instead of knowingly wrecking him. Hamlin also referenced the example of CARS Tour, where he saw a car being put to the back of the field for spinning others.

"It just is an easy call. It really is an easy call, but you have to give the people in the tower the liberty to do it, and hopefully, we have created a new precedence where if you spin out the leader, and in such an egregious manner, you get to put to the last car on the lead lap or whatever it is going to be," Denny Hamlin added.

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Denny Hamlin weighs in on NASCAR's penalty to Austin Dillon affecting contact-racing

Speaking about the effects of NASCAR penalizing Austin Dillon for wrecking two drivers to take a win, Denny Hamlin said thta it wouldn't discourage contact-racing. Hamlin said that neither they want to stop the contact nor they are going to.

However, the penalty could lead to drivers taking 'a pause' in situations like the one at Richmond on Sunday.

"We are still going to push the edge to try to get the guy out of the groove to win the race.

"We are still going to make contact, but it is certainly going to give us pause in those situations where you saw like last weekend where it is not going to be worth it to clear somebody out that was deservingly going to win the race, which is the fair part of sport of this," he described. [4:00]

The #11 driver said there should be "a balance of entertainment and sport" in NASCAR and that it's only a matter of policing the sporting aspect of such incidents.

As for whether he's satisfied with NASCAR's decision, Denny Hamlin replied in the affirmative but not entirely. The veteran said that if Austin Dillon's win was taken away, everything would've fixed itself as a split decision.

However, Hamlin understands the "iffy language" in the rule book around taking away a win several days after the race, while admitting that it was the right call.