Denny Hamlin dealt playoff blow as NASCAR confirm two-race suspensions

Denny Hamlin is one of the hot favorites to secure the 2025 Cup Series championship, but the Joe Gibbs Racing star has been dealt a tough blow after multiple two-race suspensions were confirmed.

The 44-year-old qualified for the Cup Series' Round of 12 with his win in St Louis earlier this month, meaning that the pressure was somewhat off heading into Saturday night's race elimination race under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway.

However, even with the pressure off, mistakes were made and things did not go perfectly for the No. 11 team. On lap 384 of 500, Hamlin had his right front wheel come loose whilst out on the track, shortly after which he wrecked into AJ Allmendinger, and the wheel and tire completely detached from his Toyota.

Hamlin was hit with an instant two-lap penalty during the race for the incident, and now, further penalties have followed his 31st-place finish.

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NASCAR announce Denny Hamlin penalty

In their post-race penalty report, NASCAR officials have now determined that the incident constituted a safety violation on Joe Gibbs Racing's part, with two members of the No. 11 team being suspended for two races as a result.

As per NASCAR's punishment, Hamlin's front-tire changer Austin Maloney and jackman Joel Bouagnon will now miss this weekend's playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as well as next weekend's action at Kansas Speedway [September 28]. The crew members will then return for the Round of 12 elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway [October 5].

There is, however, an option for Joe Gibbs Racing to defer these suspensions for one race weekend, with new rules having been introduced ahead of the 2025 season.

“What we did at the beginning of the year was we said that if there is a suspension that’s not a behavioral penalty, that the suspension can be deferred without an appeal request for the next event following the issuance of the penalty,” NASCAR’s managing director of racing communications Mike Forde said.

“So if the 11 team would like for their two crew members to be part of the New Hampshire race, they can request a deferral. The appeals administrator would be the one who grants or denies the appeal. There is pretty much 100% success rate."

If deferred, the two two-race suspensions would begin at Kansas and then continue in Charlotte, whilst Maloney and Bouagnon would be allowed to feature at this weekend's event.

Having initially hoped to avoid the penalty, it will certainly be interesting to see which course of action Joe Gibbs Racing take on this matter.

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