RICHMOND, Va. -- Denny Hamlin is not any happier about last season's controversial finish at Richmond Raceway, but he does feel a little better about NASCAR's decision-making one year removed from Austin Dillon wrecking him and Joey Logano in overtime.
As Hamlin explained on Friday at his home track, this wild moment forced NASCAR to make a very hard decision. The sanctioning body had to decide to strip a driver of his playoff eligibility due to how they won a race.
"I do feel a little bit better about it than we did 12 months ago," Hamlin said. "I just feel that I think certainly, that was the first time we've seen something like that happen and then NASCAR had a precedence to set in the sense that - what do you do from here.
Another look at the contact coming to the finish line. pic.twitter.com/qG276PviFz
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 12, 2024
"If you let that go, then you open up a floodgate of crazy things that could happen that would be bad for the relevance and the legitimacy of the sport," Hamlin added.
"And so I think everyone probably has a little better understanding now, because of the ruling. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with it, but you certainly have a better understanding."
NASCAR has not regularly gone out of its way to punish drivers who have wrecked a single competitor from behind to get a win.
For example, Ty Gibbs wrecked Brandon Jones at Martinsville to lock up a spot in the Championship 4. Logano sent William Byron into the wall at Darlington Raceway to win a regular-season race.
However, last season's finish at Richmond Raceway featured Dillon wrecking both Logano and Hamlin on the final lap of overtime. This was an incident that many drivers -- and ultimately, NASCAR -- viewed as too egregious.
Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
Hamlin, in particular, told media members on pit road that the sport had "egg on its face" and that the playoff format created this situation.
Dillon, however, defended his moves during his post-race press conference. He didn't view his actions as crossing the line.
"I've seen Denny and Joey make moves that have been running people up the track to win," Dillon said after winning at Richmond last season.
"This is the first opportunity in two years for me to be able to get a win. I drove in there and kept all four tires turning across the start-finish line.
"And to me, I've seen a lot of stuff over the years in NASCAR where people move people, and it's just part of our sport."