Denny Hamlin urges Nascar to follow rules after all-star drama with Ryan Blaney in Texas
- Sean Fisher
- 24 May 2022
After some last lap drama in the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Ryan Blaney was left to fix his own window net, a potentially serious safety issue.
During the All-Star race at Texas this weekend, Ryan Blaney put on a magnificent showing as he took the chequered flag after the 50-lap event.
However, while Blaney initially thought he had won, a caution on the final lap for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. meant that a further two overtime laps were needed, as the winner couldn't be decided under a yellow flag.
Blaney was still in a dominant position for the final two laps, but the 28-year-old had already let down the window net on the driver's side of his No.12 Ford believing he had won.
In the decisive two laps, Blaney managed to rig the nets back on as best he could, and the American held out to finish 0.266 seconds clear of Denny Hamlin in second.
RYAN BLANEY (officially) WINS THE 2022 ALL-STAR RACE.
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 23, 2022
Retweet to congratulate the No. 12 team on their Texas victory! pic.twitter.com/0isKFlZr94
But while Hamlin had no issues accepting that Blaney deserved the win on merit, the 41-year-old fumed at Nascar for not following their own safety regulations, suggesting that any incident could've resulted in a lawsuit.
"This isn't a Denny Hamlin judgement call," Hamlin said. "I'm just saying, 'Whatever the rule is, let's be consistent and play by the rules.' It's unfortunate because he made a mistake.
"He should have won the race (the first time). He was a 100 yards from winning the race. But many cars have not won races because of a green-white-checkered or a mistake on a restart at the end. Those things happen.
"I nearly crashed… if I send him into traffic and he has no window net, then what?" Hamlin said. "Then they have a lawsuit on their hands.
"That's the rule. I dunno what we're talking about here. That's not a judgement call. You got to play by the rules."
The official Nascar rulings state that window netting fasteners need to be "properly tightened and remain tight during an event". It's often been the case that cars that don't meet this requirement are asked to pit and fix the issue.
But no call came for Blaney to enter the pit lane, and Hamlin admitted that it was not the fault of his fellow driver, but of Nascar not ordering a pit entry.
Never should have been a yellow in the first place. They put Blaney in the situation he was in. To make up for it they let him break a rule. 2 wrongs don’t make a right.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) May 23, 2022
Blaney W, NASCAR L
"If they just look away and turn the other way and say, 'That rule don't count right now' then more power to him. I would have done the same thing 100 percent," Hamlin said.
"I don't know whether it's a moral problem that they have - 'Well, we'll cost him the win because we threw the caution and we hate to take away that.' I think they just had a moral dilemma instead of just playing by the rules like they're supposed to."
Blaney's win in the All-Star event pocketed him a handy $1million for his efforts.
