Sunday’s (March 31) Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway was controversial for more than one reason, but the big focus has centered on Denny Hamlin‘s controversial restart that propelled him to his 53rd NASCAR Cup Series win and his fifth at Richmond.
Martin Truex Jr., who led 228 laps and restarted on the outside of Hamlin after losing the lead on pit road, went immediately on the radio after the race to say that Hamlin jumped the restart, and he said the same when interviewed on pit road after the race.
Hamlin’s questionable restart wasn’t even on the broadcast’s radar until Truex brought it up, because this was the (lack of) view that everyone saw of the front two cars on TV.
FOX ultimately showed a replay of the restart below.
You be the judge.
To me, Hamlin appeared to step on the gas about 20 feet before reaching the restart line. It was close, but it was clear enough that he jumped to a sizable gap by the time his car reached the line.
The onboard camera from Hamlin’s No. 11 car (the video from Ryan Pistana), also shows the jump, as Hamlin audibly stepped on the gas pedal before reaching the white line and red wall marker (the beginning of the restart zone) at 0:06.
On his podcast, Hamlin said that he went “pretty early in the zone,” and he explained that he was trying to watch Truex on his outside and the No. 22 car of Joey Logano behind him to time the perfect launch for the restart. He also conceded that it looked worse on TV than it felt behind the wheel.
But what he said at the end of the clip should raise some eyebrows.
“All I’m doing is looking mirror side,” Hamlin said. “When I see [Truex] starting to creep, I’m like, ‘I take off.’ So I don’t see where I’m at in the zone, and so I can concede, definitely, that it is a few feet early.”
Did Hamlin just admit to jumping before the zone, knowing that the result can no longer be overturned? If so, that might explain the April Fool’s Day joke he posted about the situation.
As for NASCAR race control’s response to the situation, Elton Sawyer — NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition — said that NASCAR reviewed the restart and deemed that there was no issue with it.
Whether NASCAR deemed it good or is trying to save face for missing it doesn’t matter too much, but you can clearly see and hear Hamlin gas it up before reaching the line. He even admitted that it was “a few feet early.”
UPDATE: Sawyer has since stated on SiriusXM that “there’s no doubt [Hamlin] rolled early.”
Now look.
No one likes it when sporting events are decided by judgment calls and referees. I understand NASCAR’s dilemma in this situation; some part of the fanbase will be happy while another will be mad, and it wouldn’t surprise me if NASCAR wants to be as hands off as possible when the battle for the win is on the line.
But judgment calls have to be made when infractions occur, and jumping the restart is barely a judgment call in itself. SMT and telemetry data are available, and it would clearly show if a driver went too soon, but that is a story for another time.
It may be unpopular for a driver to lose a win or their finishing position because of a restart violation, but missing an infraction that occurs is not any better. And worse, it sets a precedent and opens up a can of worms as to what drivers can or cannot get away with, especially when hearing Clint Bowyer’s reaction to the final restart.
Kevin Harvick: “Definitely rolled before the line.”
Bowyer: “Well, I’ll tell you what [Hamlin] did — he won.”
So, is it okay for drivers to commit an infraction as long as it wins them the race? Should the leader be able to jump any start or restart if they wish to do so? Should cars be allowed to pass below the yellow line at Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway if it allows them to win? Is it fine for a driver to go five miles per hour over the limit on pit road if they win the race off?
All of the above are penalties and would be called as such. But Richmond’s final restart puts NASCAR in a gray area that allows drivers to test and push the limits for an advantage.
Could a driver do a slight jump on a restart and get away with it, or would they have to really jump it for an infraction to be handed down? That’s a legitimate question that’s on the table, and it begs the question of what drivers will be able to do on the restarts in next week’s events at Martinsville Speedway.
Of course, nothing could come out of last weekend. While controversial, it’s possible that it gets brushed aside and largely forgotten about as the season goes on.
At the same time, there are more restart games on the table for drivers in the upcoming races, and it only took one no-call to make it happen. Could we see drivers push the limit and force NASCAR to step in and rectify the situation?
There’s only one way to find out.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf