NASCAR star Denny Hamlin has called out the lack of clarity regarding certain regulations in the sport after a recent controversy in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
When the race took place a few weeks ago, the weather in Tenessee meant that proceedings had to be halted after just 136 laps of the scheduled 300.
The No. 2 Team Penske Ford driver was forced to head to the back of the pack for the restart as his punishment after it was deemed his team had been using a fan to blow air onto his car during the delay.
Reacting to events in Tenessee recently, Hamlin, who currently sits second in the Cup Series standings, reflected on the chaos that ensued during the delay, criticizing the management and clarity of the regulations.
“Certainly when the rain came and everybody got their stuff cooled back off it reset everything,” Denny Hamlin explained via the Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin podcast.
“Usually the fall-off that we do see on these tires is because of heat. So any time we can cool them back off they’re going to fire right away.”
Cindric's team's method of doing this was deemed illegal, but Hamlin explains that it wasn't the only regulation that was unclear, referencing an issue he faced with getting his water replaced.
“We added water to my drink system and the guy was like, ‘Hey, if you want to do that, do it under caution,'” Hamlin continued.
“We were like, ‘we can’t.'”
Hamlin added: “What we’re saying, though, is even our officials that were standing in our pit box had a different interpretation of the rules of the drink system,"
"So not everyone is on the same page there. So certainly it seemed where I guess [Cindric] had to go to the back for that.”