Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett are sick of post-race penalties.
Burton, the former NASCAR rookie of the year, and Jarrett, the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship, want NASCAR start disqualifying drivers whose cars fail post-race inspection, and levy six-figure fines. Burton, in his remarks, specifically called out Denny Hamlin in remarks on NASCAR America.
Following Denny Hamlin's win at Darlington being encumbered, @JeffBurton says "it's time to start disqualifying people." #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/k95Vl2FQzh
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 6, 2017
"I think it's time to start disqualifying people. I think it's time in today's world where Denny Hamlin won that race and by him winning that race, that kept someone else from winning the race, and no one got those five points moving into the playoffs.
"It's time to disqualify people. It's time to say, 'If you're illegal, here's the rules.' Whether you like the rules or not, that's not the question. These are the rules as written. If you are found to break the rules, and it's not a mistake, it 100 percent happened -- and even if it is a mistake, you have to be responsible for them.
"It's time to start taking wins away. It's time to give the points to the person that won the race. Any team that wins and did it illegal didn't win the race. Every short track in the country takes wins away, but we can't do it here."
Jarrett agreed:
"I agree 100 percent with Jeff that we're going to start disqualifying people. And the two of us can understand that: Jeff and I had wins taken away in the Xfinity Series, the only two people that I know of that had that happen since 1982. Mine was at Michigan (and Burton's was in Pulaski, Virginia). So, it can be done.
"It's not fair that on Wednesday, we find out that the winner of the race has cheated -- has bent the rules. I hate the word 'cheated,' but everybody's trying everything they can."
Jarrett also advocated fines in the "hundreds of thousands of dollars,"
Hamlin had two wins encumbered over the weekend --the NASCAR and XFinity races at Darlington -- because of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing was flagged for a rear suspension violation.
Crew chief Mike Wheeler was slapped with $50,000 fine and suspended for two races. The team lost 25 owner points and 25 driver points, in addition to Hamlin's first-place finish being ruled encumbered.