NASCAR issue championship-changing penalty FIVE MONTHS after race

Denny Hamlin has been slapped with a penalty for violating NASCAR's engine inspection requirements months after the incident took place.

Hamlin took the second of his three Cup Series wins in the Ford City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway back in March.

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However, Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing team have now been found to have been in violation of Sections 14.7.1.E&F and 14.7.1.1.B&E of the NASCAR Rule Book at the event.

Fortunately for Hamlin, his win still stands, however, it no longer carries playoff eligibility. This does not affect his playoff status given he has two other wins to his name, but he has lost 10 playoff points and 75 regular season ones, too.

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Denny Hamlin reacts to huge penalty

Speaking in reaction to the news, Hamlin admitted it was hard not to feel negative about the situation given the hard work he has put into this campaign.

“It’s just really hard,” Hamlin explained via NASCAR.

“It’s really hard in this kind of format when you work so hard in the regular season to get all those bonus points. It’s really tough to see it just wiped away.

"But it’s part of it and we’ve got to just overcome now.”

To make matters worse for Hamlin, he registered a DNF at this weekend's race in Daytona.

The #11 Toyota driver now sits eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season standings with just one race to go before the playoffs.

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