Denny Hamlin believes NASCAR should allow “self-policing” on the racetrack when one driver is having an issue with another. The comments came after two separate on-track incidents at Chicagoland, one involving Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith, the other involving Austin Hill and Shane van Gisbergen.
Both incidents raised eyebrows in the NASCAR community. Smith, who made contact with Hocevar that sent both drivers into the wall, and van Gisbergen, whose bump on Hill sent him careening into the wall, have raised questions on if such wrecks warrant penalties.
While Hamlin is not in favor of intentionally wrecking other drivers, he believes there comes a point when drivers should take matters into their own hands.
Hamlin says NASCAR has been a ‘self-policing’ sport
On a recent episode of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast, the driver of the No. 11 felt torn about the on-track incidents from last Sunday.
“Do I think that it’s cool that someone goes and just wipes someone out? No, but I’m also a very firm, firm fan of self-policing and I think that has to be a thing in the sport. Because if you can’t punch someone in the face without getting a fine, if you can’t handle it off the racetrack — which I’m not really in favor of that — you got to let people self-police on the racetrack,” Hamlin said.
In Hamlin’s “self-policing” explanation, he believes if one driver gets messed with by another, the former has a right to retaliate and set a boundary of how they want to be raced.
“You let someone know, you (expletive) with me and you’re gonna get it. You’re gonna it and so just think about that before you (expletive) with me or you wreck me or you run into me. This is what NASCAR racing has been for quite some time — a self-policing sport,” Hamlin said.
Over the last 5-7 years, however, Hamlin said the standard has changed. With an emphasis on penalizing drivers for “deliberate” wrecks in recent years, drivers feel restrained in trying to self-police.
“If you get a penalty of any sort, it’s like, how am I supposed to get this person back? It just gives free rein to let people do whatever they want with no repercussions,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin says self-policing makes NASCAR exciting
Prior to NASCAR putting the hammer down on intentional wrecks in recent years, Hamlin said drivers were able to self-police more.
If it got to be too much after some time, Hamlin said NASCAR would sit the drivers involved down in attempt to squash the disagreement. Whether or not the drivers would oblige is what made things exciting in Hamlin’s mind.
“That’s how it used to happen — a wreck, a payback, maybe another wreck — then, they sit you down and say, ‘We’re done with this (expletive). Y’all gotta stop.’” … Then, maybe they decide, ‘Well, I don’t think the score is level,’ but that’s what makes this (expletive) exciting,” Hamlin said.
On the heels of the news that neither Zane Smith nor SVG will be penalized for their on-track actions at Chicagoland, it should make for a compelling next few weeks if either Carson Hocevar or Austin Hill choose to retaliate.
Denny Hamlin Believes in ‘Self-Policing’ Amid Chicagoland Incidents