Denny Hamlin will lose two crew members for two weeks after a wheel issue at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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The right front wheel detached from the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during Lap 384 of last weekend's playoff race. Hamlin made contact with AJ Allmendinger in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, sending sparks into the air. Replay did not reveal whether the wheel detached before or after the contact.
NASCAR officials held Hamlin for two laps as an in-race penalty. He finished five laps down. On Tuesday, the penalty report then confirmed that front changer Austin Malone and jackman Joel Bouagnon would miss two Cup Series races.
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The penalty would technically start this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a track where Hamlin has three wins and an average finish of 9.9.
However, the team has the option of deferring the penalty by one week as part of an offseason rule change. According to Jonathan Fjeld of The Racing Experts, Hamlin's team will use this and have the suspension start at Kansas Speedway.
This timeline means the two crew members will miss the Round of 12 race at Kansas Speedway and the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval. They will be eligible to return for the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Managing Director of Racing Communications Mike Forde explained on this week's episode of the "Hauler Talk" podcast that there is a basically a 100% success rate when requesting that deferral.
"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," Forde explained.
"So if (Hamlin's) 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 does grant that or not grant that."
Hamlin advanced to the Round of 12 by virtue of a win at World Wide Technology Raceway, his fifth of the season. He heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway atop the standings with 26-point cushion to the Round of 8 cutline.
