Denny Hamlin takes issue with NASCAR: ‘Ricky got the sh*t end of that for sure’

Denny Hamlin has issues with how NASCAR handled the fight between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch. On his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin shared his thoughts on Stenhouse being fined $75,000 for punching Busch after the NASCAR All-Star Race.

“Ricky got the sh*t end of that for sure,” Hamlin said. Hamlin then explained why Stenhouse was fined and Ross Chastain was not after he punched Noah Gragson last year.

“I think that NASCAR’s justification is they’re saying it’s because one was right after the race in the heat of the battle, the two just got out the car and the other one sat there for two hours and waited,” Hamlin said. “If anything, if I had to sit there in the infield and watch the race for two hours, I’d probably stew over it and get hotter in it.”

Hamlin continued: “I think $75,000 was too much. I think you’re hurting what you’re promoting because they definitely use this for promotion, however, they don’t ‘like it.’ Certainly, that amount of money will make drivers think twice about throwing hands, which I don’t that is necessarily a good thing. I don’t think Ricky got too fair of a shake there but I don’t know if he’s going to appeal or not. I can tell you after the case that we brought, good luck with that fixed system.”

Hamlin elaborated on his “fixed system” comment. He said: “They bring them in, it’s moderated by a NASCAR official. I mean come on. That system still could be improved.”

Denny Hamlin analyzes fight between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch

The fight between Stenhouse and Busch received a lot of attention from the sports world since it was very intense. Last week, Hamlin broke down the fight and understood where both drivers were coming from.

“Let’s go back to the on-track stuff. I see both sides, however, my driving style supports a little more of Kyle’s side, because I believe that there are times where Ricky finds himself in these situations, because he puts himself in these situations,” Hamlin said on the podcast. “It is Lap 1. Did he shove through the middle of us? Yes. Did I have a problem with it? I did not. It is the All-Star Race. We just talked about it earlier. The drivers, you kind of understand that there’s a little bit more aggressiveness going on in this type of race. So I see Kyle’s side of it, ‘Dude, you shoved middle on a short-track on Lap 1. Like, where are you going?’ I see that part. I understand.

“However, the counter to that is that I see Ricky’s side saying, ‘Dude, I never touched you until you hit the wall.’ Now, I think contact was inevitable, because there wasn’t enough room for Kyle, no matter what. Ricky did put him in a position where Kyle was going to have to lift, and if he did not lift, the contact was going to happen.”

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this story.

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