Denny Hamlin, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, seemingly won the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway, but was disqualified by NASCAR along with his teammate Kyle Busch during post-race inspection.
NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brd Moran explained the decision to disqualify Hamlin and Busch saying, “We were doing our post-race inspections, which we would do. There was some issues discovered that affect aero of the vehicle. The part was the front fascia. And there really was no reason why there was some material that was somewhere it shouldn’t have been.”
“And that does basically come down to a DQ. It is a penalty. Both, first 11 Denny Hamlin and the 18 of Kyle Busch, have been DQ’d,” he added. “Their vehicles are being loaded in a NASCAR hauler. They’re gonna go back to the R&D Center. The final results have been changed to show that the two DQs were there.”
He concluded, “They have the opportunity to appeal it. It’ll be all sorted out by next week. Like Mike said I can’t get into all the details of what the issues were, but both vehicles had the same issue and unfortunately they were not acceptable to pass the inspection.”
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Hamlin took to Twitter where he shared a photo of his daughter, Taylor, celebrating his victory with her arms extended while holding the checkered flag.
He captioned the photo, “Yeah, good luck getting that back.”
With Hamlin and Busch both disqualified, Chase Elliott was announced as the winner.
NASCAR announced via Twitter, “The Nos. 11 and 18 cars have been disqualified following post-race inspection at Pocono Raceway. Chase Elliott has been declared the winner of today’s race.”
Elliott addressed the media about being named the winner on Monday morning saying, “Look, I don’t know it’s a win that I’m going to celebrate anyway. For me, I don’t really feel right celebrating someone’s else misfortune, number one.
“And you’re right, number two, it could change by Thursday or Friday or whenever,” he continued. “But the way I take it is — look, I don’t know the details of what went on. I don’t know what made them make that decision. Like I said it’s not necessarily something I’m proud of or something I’m going to boast about throughout the course of this situation.”
Elliott went on, “I thought we were very fortunate to run third to be real honest with you. We started off okay and then struggled the midpoint of the event. And I thought for us to get back into the top five there was, was really a good day. And then to squeak by that wreck and be able to miss that. I thought we were lucky as it was.”
“Look, as I alluded to a second ago, no race car driver wants to win that way. And whether it gets overturned, or not overturned, or whatever, I’m not going to celebrate somebody’s misfortune or whatever for that situation. That doesn’t seem right to me and I crossed the line third. It’s kind of how I’m looking at it,” he concluded.
Will Chase Elliott wait until any JGR appeal is heard before celebrating his victory from Sunday? Elliott: “It’s not necessarily something I’m proud of or something I’m going to boast about.” pic.twitter.com/iF2eIgTtS3
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 25, 2022
NASCAR announced that Joe Gibbs Racing will not be appealing the decision writing on Twitter, “Joe Gibbs Racing will not appeal disqualifications of Nos. 11, 17 at Pocono Raceway.”
They further detailed within their press release that Hamlin was given credit for 35th place while Busch was given credit for 36th.
What do you make of Hamlin and Elliott’s reaction? What about Joe Gibbs Racing choosing not to appeal the decision?
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