A NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond on Sunday night appeared to be heading toward an inevitable Martin Truex Jr. win in the closing stages, but a late-race caution caused chaos – and left Truex Jr. fuming and driving into the back of his own teammate.
With Truex Jr. coming around to take the white flag, Bubba Wallace spun Kyle Larson to bring out a caution. This forced the entire field to pit for tires, and Denny Hamlin’s crew delivered a scorching top, vaulting the No. 11 car from third to first.
Hamlin held off Truex Jr. on the restart and went on to win his second race of 2024 – but after crossing the checkered flag, Truex Jr. sped up and slammed into the back of Hamlin multiple times.
Martin Truex Jr. isn't happy. pic.twitter.com/CclgSt50hn
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 1, 2024
The broadcast crew was mystified. The battle between Hamlin and Truex Jr. into Turn 1 was close, but nothing out of the ordinary. When he got out of his car and spoke to Jamie Little, however, Truex Jr. accused Hamlin of jumping the restart, giving himself the advantage he needed down the straight to beat Truex in the corner.
The replays showed… that Martin Truex Jr. may be correct. Hamlin seemed to gain an advantage on Truex Jr. before he crossed the white line on the track that denotes the start of the restart zone.
Denny definitely jumped pic.twitter.com/vBnxijd9Nt
— BrakeHard (@BrakeHardBlog) April 1, 2024
Strangely, however, Fox commentator Mike Joy quickly reported that NASCAR had already ruled that the restart wasn’t under review.
UPDATE: NASCAR told reporters after the race that it reviewed the restart and found nothing wrong. It’s unclear why Joy was told at the time and relayed on the broadcast the restart wasn’t under review.
NASCAR says it reviewed the final restart and deemed it OK.
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) April 1, 2024
This raised eyebrows among fans for several reasons. One, there would have obviously been no harm in reviewing the restart. There is no restart more important to extensively review than a green-white-checkered that determines a winner.
Since NASCAR is saying it did review the restart, it’s reasonable for fans to expect some kind of a breakdown explaining the call. NASCAR would presumably have the exact data it needs to either clear Hamlin of any wrongdoing or prove he jumped – which at this point it needs to do publicly. Every team gets a detailed stream of SMT data, which shows exactly when and where drivers are applying the throttle or the brake at any point of the track.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of verifying the race winner. A hypothetical post-race penalty for Hamlin – which doesn’t seem to be coming – would give the win to Joey Logano, locking him into the playoffs in what has otherwise been a brutal year for the No. 22 so far.
NASCAR told reporters that while the restart was “awful close,” officials deemed it to be legal.
Elton Sawyer said they reviewed the final restart and while close, Denny Hamlin didn’t jump the restart. pic.twitter.com/zRZOvfqpQr
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 1, 2024
Did NASCAR just get this call wrong?
"[Denny Hamlin] jumped the start and then just used me up in Turn 1."
Everything unraveled late for Martin Truex Jr. in Richmond.@JamieLittleTV | https://t.co/XUF5a2ZHos pic.twitter.com/FKBXLSmL0I
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 1, 2024
Denny Hamlin concedes it was close to a jumped restart but he wasn't going to give up the advantage his pit crew gave him pic.twitter.com/4P5FwtIwL1
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) April 1, 2024
If NASCAR can issue a penalty post-race for going below the yellow line at superspeedways, why can’t they look back and say Denny Hamlin jumped the restart?
NASCAR could find the data and penalize him for the broken rule by putting him at the tail of the lead lap.
— Austin Konenski (@AustinKonenski) April 1, 2024
What is the point of a restart zone and video review if it's not going to be used in situations like this?
At the very least, this should have been a restart that NASCAR said was "under review."
Instead, NASCAR's inconsistent race control shows just why it's so inconsistent. https://t.co/bDsWxiaTiV
— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) April 1, 2024
#NASCAR has reduced everything to a precise number at this point. Whether it be .001 seconds too fast on pit road, to being 1 inch too early into a pit box & calling a too many pit boxes penalty. If this isn't officiated with the same level of scrutiny, there is a problem https://t.co/PRcjRdZax8
— Tom Nielsen (@bighomerfan) April 1, 2024
Maybe DH didn't jump it, but TV can't just shrug their shoulders and go 'he had a better pitstop.'
No. Show us telemetry that proves one way or the other if he jumped it. You can't just shrug your shoulders and go 'oh well' if you want to be taken seriously as a sport.#NASCAR
— Nick DeGroot (@ndegroot89) April 1, 2024
Can't believe NASCAR won't even review the telemetry
— Nick Giffen (@RotoDoc) April 1, 2024
Nascar – Restart not under review. pic.twitter.com/bINHIqgSUe
— Dirty Racetrack Baby (@DirtyRacetrack) April 1, 2024
I also love how Mike Joy said NASCAR said the restart wasn't under review. How do they decide which restarts to review and which ones not to?
— Avery Hage (@AveryHage) April 1, 2024
NASCAR at COTA; you violate track limits by an inch or two, back breaking penalty
NASCAR at Richmond: won’t even review a pretty clear jump on restart
Consistency would be nice
— Griffin Fuller (@fuller_grif) April 1, 2024
