By: Ashley McCubbin

When Denny Hamlin won at Darlington Raceway, he adorned a mask that had a smile to match the one on his face. After Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS), hopefully he had an angry or sad mask in his collection.

Hamlin’s chances at winning the Coca-Cola 600 went away in the pace laps, when a ballast fell out of the rear of his No. 11 Camry. To meet the minimum weight requirements set by the sanctioning body, teams add weight – blocks of tungsten, in the frame rails to their discretion.

He would come down pit road, going several laps down while the team added new weight to the car, along with repairing the piece that allowed for the weight to slip out. Hamlin ultimately finished 30th, seven laps down to race winner Brad Keselowski.

While that caused enough problems along with now having to start Wednesday’s Alsco 500 at CMS from 30th, there could be further penalties coming this week for Hamlin’s team.

According the rulebook, any team that suffers the same fate as the No. 11 Camry will see their crew chief, car chief, head engineer suspended for four races.

The rule was put in place as should the weight come out under green flag conditions, it could result in severe safety implications, A couple years ago, a piece of tungsten went through the windshield of another racecar when it came out at speed. Thankfully, the driver was uninjured.

NASCAR on FOX’s Bob Pockrass shared the exact wording from the rulebook.

Here is the rule. Four-race suspension expected for crew chief, car chief and head engineer: #nascar ⁦@NASCARONFOX⁩ https://t.co/MC6BZyuibj—
Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 24, 2020

EMAIL ASHLEY AT ashley.mccubbin@popularspeed.com

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