Austin Hill did not receive much support from the community after he was hit with a one-race ban and a mid-race penalty for his role in Aric Almirola’s crash at Indianapolis last weekend. Denny Hamlin, however, sees the incident from a slightly less critical viewpoint.
Hamlin believes Hill’s actions at Indianapolis are comparable to those of NFL players and that a stronger penalty would have been too harsh.
Denny Hamlin Compares Austin Hill’s Indy Incident to NFL Toughness
NASCAR slammed the book shut on Hill after he deliberately right-rear hooked Almirola during last weekend’s Xfinity race at Indianapolis. While most agreed a one-race suspension was justified, Hamlin has taken a different stance.
“Well, it always hurts when you’re the first,” the NASCAR veteran said. “And you know the idea I think behind the penalty is to deter others from, you know, doing something similar to that in the same scenario.”
“So, usually this is how it works where it just takes one rough driving penalty to, you know, get the field’s attention, and certainly nobody wants to have the penalty that the 21 had.”
While Hamlin agrees that a penalty was warranted to discipline reckless driving, he’s not convinced that harsher measures will be particularly effective.
“I don’t think you ever stop people’s immediate emotions or reactions. I think that’s all, you know, it’s all part of it. We see football players make game decisions, roughing the passer calls, all the time, like it just happens in the moment.”
“So, I don’t think…I think the penalty is definitely enough.”
Read More: Denny Hamlin Drops 7-Word Reaction to Austin Hill’s Brutal NASCAR Penalty
Hamlin discussed it further on his podcast. He gave Hill the benefit of the doubt and argued the impact could have been unintentional.
“I mean, it didn’t look good,” Hamlin said. “But golly, would he really be that egregious? The only thing I can think of — I’m looking at it, and I try to give the benefit of the doubt. I think Austin Hill, because the fans generally don’t like him, is not going to get the benefit of the doubt.”
“You know, I’ve seen some Martinsville races where it’s like, I ain’t giving that guy the benefit of the doubt either. Just, you know, bowling is way through. But I’m thinking about being in his position, and he gets turned sideways, and you’re trying to hold on to it.”
Hamlin then explained why he believes the incident could have been an accident rather than an intentional wreck.
“I’ll say this, sometimes, and actually most times, when I’m correcting that big of a motion, I’m usually letting the wheel slide in my hands. It’s hard to full go this way — you can’t do it quick enough. It’s best to just let the thing — let it go on one side, catch it with the other, and that’s how you correct.
“Or that’s how I’ve done it a few times. The only thing I can think of that made his car go sharp left into the No. 19 is that the wheel was not done spinning in his hands, or when he grabbed it, when he’s turning it, correcting it, he lets go, he catches it.”
“It gets correct, but then he holds the wheel, and now the wheel’s not, he’s not holding the wheel in his normal 10-and-2.”
“If the car was going straight, he’s now actually holding it in a different position. I know his hand’s right here, but he’s — you gotta understand what I’m saying is that the wheel has clocked, because he let it spin on his hands.”
“So, this is not straight up anymore. This could be — the front wheels are turned that way. I’m just coming up with a theory. That’s all. It looked like he right-rear hooked the No. 19. I’m just saying, there’s no way you can be that dumb.”
“… It feels like, if there’s anyone that would kind of fly off the rails because someone ran into him, it’s probably him.”
“But I just feel like there’s an opportunity that he let the wheel spin in his hands to try to correct quickly, which he did an amazing job of. Then, when he grabbed onto the wheel, the wheel was no longer straight up. It was turned to the left. That’s my theory.”
Hill watched from the sidelines this Saturday as Austin Dillon took charge of the No. 21 Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. He should be available for next week’s Mission 200 at The Glen.