“The rule in the book, it's black and white”: Dale Earnhardt Jr on NASCAR’s controversial decision to not review Denny Hamlin’s overtime restart

Former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. was livid over NASCAR VP Elton Sawyer's comments about their decision-making during the recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway.

Denny Hamlin, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE, secured a controversial victory during the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 race at Richmond Raceway. Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr., won the second stage and was the frontrunner into the final stretch of the race. However, courtesy of a contact between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson in the 398th lap, the race was sent into overtime.

It was during the restart when Hamlin controversially rolled the wheels of his No. 11 Toyota before the cue, and subsequently cruised to victory. A seething Truex, who settled for a fourth-place finish, accused his teammate of jumping the restart, causing fans to express dissatisfaction with Hamlin and NASCAR.

In response to fans' criticism, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR's Vice President, recently addressed the situation on an episode of "The Morning Drive" show on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He said:

"If this happens at Lap 10 or 50 or 300 (in the 400 lap race), the call could have been different."

The statement, however, did not sit well with Dale Earnhardt Jr., a NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer. Speaking on The Dale Jr Download podcast, he pitched in:

"To come out and say 'I think if it happened on lap.10, we would've called it differently.' That makes me even more angry. Why are you calling the race differently depending upon the laps?"

"The rule in the book, it's black and white," he added. "It's on or off. It's yes and no. It doesn't change at lap 450 or lap 5."

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. demands clarity from NASCAR after Richmond controversy

Dale Earnhardt Jr. emphasized the need for clear and consistent messaging from NASCAR. He added:

"Going forward, we need clear messaging from NASCAR. So just come out and say, 'the rule is, you go inside the zone.' Don't make us come after you too."

Previously, Elton Sawyer had controversially claimed that the decision to back Denny Hamlin in the situation was made for Hamlin's position in the race. He stated (via NBC):

"You make the call and at that point in time in the race (at the end), there’s not a lot of opportunity there to undo that — but you want to make sure you get it right. Because he was the leader, he did get some of that benefit. If he’s not the leader, then it’s a whole different conversation that we’re having."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s demands over NASCAR VP Elton Sawyer's comments highlight a sense of perplexity and annoyance felt within the NASCAR community after the Richmond Cup race. It remains to be seen if the sanctioning body takes action to address the situation at hand.