Stewart-Haas Racing duo Josh Berry and Ryan Preece defend Denny Hamlin’s controversial restart at Richmond Raceway

Stewart Haas Racing drivers Josh Berry and Ryan Preece backed NASCAR's decision not to penalize Denny Hamlin for his controversial restart in the final laps of the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway this past Sunday.

In the final overtime restart, Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. lined up in the front row. Hamlin appeared to have accelerated before entering the restart zone. However, NASCAR officials determined that the incident was not worthy of a penalty, with the #11 Toyota driver keeping his victory.

Short track aces Josh Berry and Ryan Preece supported NASCAR's decision not to penalize Hamlin. Berry emphasized that the leader is handicapped on the restarts at short tracks and called for more flexibility in the rules.

The #4 SHR driver said in a recent interview (via Sportsnaut.com):

"I didn’t see any issue with what happened personally. We have both raced short tracks that used restart lines, restart zones and different things, and it’s really easy to handicap the leader."

He added:

"I think there has to be some flexibility here. The leader is the leader for a reason and has to have the right to control the restart..."

Ryan Preece echoed similar thoughts, adding that the leader was at the mercy of his competitors and had to accelerate soon after entering the restart zone. He said in the same interview:

"Any short track I’ve raced, you’re at a disadvantage sometimes when you have a (restart zone) like that because you’re at the mercy of if I don’t go at the first line, and the guy outside of you goes, he has a nose out there and that’s not called, you’ve lost the advantage."

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Josh Berry believes Richmond incident was blown out of proportion due to Denny Hamlin's involvement

The #4 Stewart Haas Racing driver stated that the final restart at Richmond had garnered significant attention because Denny Hamlin was at the center of the controversial restart.

When asked if fans would have been mad if NASCAR took away the win from Hamlin, Josh Berry replied that the reaction from the fans was subjective and based on the driver involved. He argued that if he or Ryan Preece had similarly jumped the start, it likely wouldn't have been as noticeable.

Berry said (via Sportsnaut.com):

"No, because it’s him [Denny Hamlin]. It it was one of us, people wouldn’t even think about it, honestly. It's subjective right? If myself or Ryan were going for our first win, then are you gonna really call it, cause I went two feet early, I don't know."

Preece agreed, noting that the reaction to such incidents often depends on the driver involved and can be subjective.