No. 11 team, Denny Hamlin issued penalty for violating engine inspection requirements

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team and driver Denny Hamlin were issued an L2-level penalty for violating NASCAR’s engine inspection requirements, the sanctioning body announced Thursday.

The team was found in violation of Sections 14.7.1.E&F and 14.7.1.1.B&E of the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Hamlin and team owner Joe Gibbs were each docked 75 points and 10 playoff points, while crew chief Chris Gabehart was fined $100,000.

Section 14.7.1.E states all race-winning engines “will be long block sealed by NASCAR and must be completely inspected by NASCAR before the engine may be disassembled by the team. If the team chooses to use the long block sealed race winning engine again before being inspected, the engine must be used in the same vehicle number the next time it is used.” Section 14.7.1.F states the long block engine assembly seals of a long block sealed engine must not be altered, removed or replaced.

Additionally, the team violated 14.7.1.1.B&E, which respectively states, “seals must not be removed without prior approval by NASCAR,” and “if a race winning engine is sealed and presented for post-race inspection at a later date with damaged, altered or missing seals, an L2 Penalty will be assessed.”

“Each race-winning engine must be inspected by NASCAR once the race team determines that its life cycle is complete,” a NASCAR statement read. “In this instance, prior to presenting the engine to NASCAR for inspection, Toyota Racing Development disassembled and rebuilt the No. 11‘s Bristol-winning race engine. Per the NASCAR Rule Book, this violation results in an L2 penalty to the race team and driver. Toyota Racing Development self-reported this violation.”

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The penalties levied against Hamlin and the No. 11 team are the lowest L2-level penalties permissible, according to the rule book.

Additionally, Hamlin‘s Bristol win will no longer count toward eligibility for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, advancement in the playoffs or eligibility for non-points events and tiebreakers. Hamlin is a three-time race winner in 2024, including his Bristol triumph and is still locked into the postseason.

The penalty drops Hamlin from third in the regular-season standings to sixth, effectively eliminating him from contention to win the Regular Season Championship.

“As the engine builder for our partner NASCAR Cup Series teams, TRD (Toyota Racing Development) is solely responsible for the handling and disposition of all our engines pre- and post-race,” David Wilson, president of TRD USA, said in a statement. “Despite procedures being in place, Denny‘s race-winning engine from Bristol was mistakenly returned to our Costa Mesa facility, disassembled and rebuilt instead of being torn down and inspected by NASCAR per the rule book. Although we know with absolute certainty that the engine was legal and would have passed inspection, we left NASCAR in an impossible position because they were not given the opportunity to properly inspect our engine. We have reviewed our processes and have implemented several additional steps to ensure that this never happens again. TRD takes full responsibility for this grievous mistake, and we apologize to Denny, Chris, Coach Gibbs, the entire JGR organization, NASCAR and our fans.”

Ahead of the penalty, Hamlin was provisionally set to begin the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as the second seed with 2,029 points, including playoff points for race wins and stage wins in addition to the regular-season bonus. With Thursday‘s deductions, Hamlin is currently slated as the sixth seed, set to start the playoffs with 2,016 points.

Hamlin still has the opportunity to gain playoff points, of course, in the final two regular-season races at Daytona International Speedway and Darlington Raceway.

A 54-time winner at the Cup level, Hamlin is a three-time champion of the Daytona 500, and the series will race at Daytona in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock). He also is a four-time winner at Darlington, where the Cup Series‘ regular season will come to an end Sept. 1.