After Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek added to an eventful Würth 400, Denny Hamlin chimed in. He believes that NASCAR giving Busch a penalty because of the public opinion against him won't be fair.

Speaking about it on Actions Detrimental, Denny said, "I don’t know that Kyle’s refuting it, but he’s also not saying that, ‘Yeah, I took (him out).’ In so many words he is, ‘You started it…’ and then left the ending unsaid... I hate to say it, it’s a stupid sport if you just depend on what people say to make official calls."  

During the race, Busch and Nemechek were battling it out for 12th place and eventually made contact. The two made contact again going into turn three, but Nemechek suffered a considerable amount of damage and ultimately finished the race in 21st, while Busch finished the race in 20th place. 

Since then, Busch has publicly called out Nemechek on X, posting with telemetry data while responding to a post from FOX: NASCAR. That's why Hamlin believes Busch won't receive a penalty as he did.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was penalized by NASCAR in 2023 after he admitted to intentionally wrecking Ross Chastain during the race in Phoenix. Only after his admission did NASCAR issue him a penalty. 

And with fan sentiment online against Busch, Hamlin explained:

“Does NASCAR just kind of use their common-sense judgment? Or do they say, ‘Well, there’s just not enough evidence.’”

After the incident, both Busch and Nemechek pleaded their case. As of now, there is no penalty issued for the RCR driver, as NASCAR is still looking into the incident.  

Denny Hamlin Believes a Penalty Against Kyle Busch Is Pointless

The Richard Childress Racing driver has faced consistent criticism for his performance throughout the current campaign. However, when it comes to penalties, Hamlin thinks it should be independent of what fans think.

“It doesn’t work like that. In sports, there’s fouls that get called. And there’s some fouls that don’t. I don’t know where they go with this. I don’t think it really f****** matters considering where he is in points and stuff. The money, who cares about that? You just do it to make yourself feel good. Like if you’re rooting for a penalty, for what? It doesn’t change anything.”

With 11 races down, Kyle Busch currently stands in 26th place with 182 points. So far this season, he has had one top-ten finish. 

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco