Dale Earnhardt Jr. scoffs at idea of NASCAR penalizing Ross Chastain for cleaning out Denny Hamlin

Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not want NASCAR to penalize Ross Chastain for cleaning out Denny Hamlin at the Charlotte playoff race. On Dale Jr. Download, Hamlin shared his reaction to the question of whether NASCAR should have penalized Chastain for the move.

“Is that really a question?” Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked. “Who would have thought such a thing?” Earnhardt then added, “It was a zero chance, but if that had worked, and he did get through, I bet NASCAR would have penalized him.”

During the final lap of the Charlotte playoff race, Ross Chastain hit Denny Hamlin because he was trying to move ahead of him to clinch a spot in the next round of the playoffs. It didn’t work, as Chastain missed the cut by four points.

Earnhardt then explained why NASCAR didn’t punish Chastain. “I think NASCAR is trying to avoid being the bad guy there,” he said. “There’s nobody that would appreciate NASCAR doing that except for the Denny bros. If NASCAR penalized him for trying to go for it even in a failed attempt, they would catch so much s***. They would catch hell.”

Denny Hamlin says NASCAR should have penalized Ross Chastain if the move worked

Earnhardt is clearly surprised by anyone asking if Chastain should have been penalized for hitting Hamlin. However, the question was brought up to Hamlin on the Actions Detrimental podcast.

“I would hope so,” Denny Hamlin said. “I think they set a precedent on that.” Hamlin then asked someone from NASCAR to let him know if that would have been a penalty had Chastain advanced in the playoffs by intentionally wrecking another driver.

“I don’t think you’re going to be allowed to just wipe someone out to move on,” Hamlin said. “It’s an intentional wreck, is it not?”

Hamlin continued, “I think certainly they probably need to address it. Hopefully, if one of those guys have an interview with Sirius or something this week, maybe possibly one of the guys will ask them if that were to happen, what would you have done? Would you have let that go or not? …I know they shouldn’t allow it. Allowing someone to get intentionally wrecked, what’s the difference in that and a right-rear hook?”

Ultimately, Chastain blamed himself for being eliminated and showed remorse for hitting Hamlin. He made two pit road mistakes at Charlotte, and that led to him battling for the final playoff spot at the end of the race.