Denny Hamlin retains the final transfer spot to the championship race, co-owner of the team where two replacement drivers will compete on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway after NASCAR suspended Bubba Wallace. I am serving
“Ownership,” Hamlin told reporters on Saturday after a sigh.
John Hunter Nemechek, who drove for Wallace, finished fourth in Sunday’s race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC). Ty Gibbs, driving in place of the injured Kurt Busch, qualified sixth.
“I think John Hunter will do a great job for us,” said Hamlin, who acquired 23XI Racing, co-owner with Michael Jordan. “Thailand are doing a great job learning the tricks and making sure they have time to sit down before they make a move (to the cup). It gives me the opportunity to prove myself.”
MORE: Kyle Petty says Bubba Wallace should have been suspended for the rest of the season
MORE: Details of Sunday’s Cup race at Homestead
Wallace is out after NASCAR penalized him for deliberately destroying Kyle Larson at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. Wallace reacted after Larson pushed Wallace into the wall. Wallace then drove the truck and hit Larson in the right rear, sending them both into the wall. The contact caused Larson to run into playoff driver Christopher Bell, ending Bell’s race.
“Obviously he was frustrated with his part on the track,” Hamlin said on Saturday at Wallace. That’s why I crushed[the car]and William[Byron]was so angry[in Hamlin, Texas].
“These cars coming out of corners have weird air cushions and somebody gets in and the car gets pushed up. I think I understand the statue…that’s a bad view for us.”
Hamlin said Wallace understood what he had done.
“We’ve all done tough things that defined us in our careers,” Hamlin said. “How you come back from there will define[Wallace].
“Unfortunately people will not focus on how much better he has become as a driver over the past year. It will take him some time to change the story.”
Hamlin said he and the team supported NASCAR’s decision to suspend Wallace for one race because of the incident.
“It doesn’t look good for our team,” Hamlin said. “But he has to learn. I truly believe that if he were to start over, he would do things differently.”
Hamlin said the team also addressed Wallace’s behavior internally, but did not provide further details.
Hamlin said Wallace will be in the shop for Sunday’s race and will monitor the event, similar to what Bush did after suffering a concussion in a crash at Pocono Raceway on July 23.
Hamlin said NASCAR had “drawn the line” by penalizing Wallace’s retaliation, but there was still some question as to when it would be a penalty.
NASCAR initially did not penalize Byron for carefully spinning Hamlin in Texas after Hamlin pushed Byron into the wall. Two days later, NASCAR penalized Byron Point and fined him, but the Board of Appeals changed the penalty to a fine only and increased the amount.
NASCAR did not penalize Carson Josevar for hooking Colby Howard to the rear right during the Camping World Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. The contact sent Howard head-on into the wall.
Hamlin said the mixed reactions from NASCAR have raised many questions about intentional contact.
“Truck speed? Hamlin said of such a penalty, ‘Because the crash[in Las Vegas]was really bad?’
Hamlin’s focus will be on returning to the championship race and looking for his first Cup title.
Hamlin leads Homestead pole-sitter Byron by six points in the final transfer spot to the title race. Chase Briscoe trailed Hamlin by 9 points, Ryan Blaney trailed Hamlin by 11 points, and Bell trailed his Hamlin by 23 points.
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