Hamlin miffed Toyota mistake could hurt season
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Denny Hamlin couldn’t help but think negatively.
A day after being dealt the toughest — and oddest — penalty of his 20-year NASCAR career, Hamlin was still trying to cope with what it might do to his season and his chances of finally winning a Cup Series championship.
“It’s hard to not feel and be negative in the moment,” Hamlin said at Daytona International Speedway on Friday. “And I am in the moment. I feel negative about it, not about the decision or anything like that, just about our season and potentially what it could or couldn’t do.”
NASCAR docked Hamlin 75 points and 10 playoff points Thursday, eliminating any shot he had at winning the regular-season title and making his path toward a championship more difficult.
The hefty penalty was handed down because Hamlin’s race-winning engine from Bristol Motor Speedway in March was rebuilt by manufacturer Toyota before NASCAR could tear it down and inspect it. The sanctioning body also fined Hamlin’s crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, Chris Gabehart, $100,000.
Toyota Racing Development self-reported what Hamlin called a “colossal mistake.”
NASCAR issued the same penalty it would to any team that alters an engine before being inspected. Even Hamlin’s competitors acknowledged that there was no intent to cheat, but NASCAR avoided dealing in any gray area.
“I’m certainly more in favor of just run the rules as they are,” Hamlin said. “This put a lot of people in some really hard positions for sure, but NASCAR did what was right and that was go by the rulebook.”
Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson said outsiders who think he would welcome the added advantage that comes with Hamlin’s punishment would be wrong.
“I was bummed to see that,” said Larson, who drives for Chevrolet. “It’s a huge penalty and one that can, for sure, affect your season in a negative manner. That goes a long way. You want everybody to have a fair shot.
“At least from what I understand, it wasn’t like they were cheating. It was a mistake. But a mistake is a mistake, and you have to pay for it. It’s just a bummer for their team and for competition.”
Added Martin Truex Jr., who is teammates with Hamlin at JGR: “I don’t know what’s right. It doesn’t feel right, but somebody’s going to take the fall.”
Hamlin, who was third in the Cup standings and 28 points behind leader Tyler Reddick, dropped to sixth and out of contention for the regular-season title with two races remaining. His playoff points fell from 21 to 11, leaving him less room for error in the opening three races of the postseason.
“It’s still up to us to go out there and win races and perform. If we have the results that equal the same as our performance, we’ll still make it and everything will be fine. It’s just the sample size is about to get real small, and it just takes away all that room for error in a time where our sport can be random.”
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, like all football coaches, wants his players to show up on time, work hard and play their best.
Oh, and another thing: Don’t dance on TikTok.
“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” he said Monday. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok, ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”
Making TikTok dance videos is a popular activity among high school- and college-age users of the social media platform. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, Boise State star Ashton Jeanty and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola are among college football players who have posted dance videos.
Rodriguez is beginning his second stint as Mountaineers coach. He said he has talked to his players about the tendency in society to emphasize the individual rather than the team and that banning TikTok dancing is something he can do to put the focus where he thinks it belongs.
“I’m allowed to do that. I can have rules,” he said. “Twenty years from now, if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell, they can go at it, smoking cannabis, whatever. Knock yourself out.”
As for now, he said: “I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?”
Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz will be sidelined for a week with a facial injury but avoided a fracture.
General manager Jim Nill said Tuesday that Hintz has to keep his heart rate down for 5-7 days to avoid pressure or swelling.
Hintz, 28, was struck in the face by a puck midway through the second period in Saturday’s 5-4 loss at Edmonton. He did not return.
Hintz is tied for second on the Stars in goals (25) and is fourth in points (52) through 59 games this season.
He has 362 points (172 goals, 190 assists) in 451 career games in seven NHL seasons. Dallas drafted him in the second round in 2015.
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