NASCAR ‘Whistleblower’ Caused Joey Logano Glove Penalty

Denny Hamlin said he believes the penalty that sent Joey Logano to the rear of Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 was the result of “snitches” from another team—something Hamlin thinks is pervasive in the NASCAR Cup Series.

On his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin talked about the race, including the photo finish involving Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez that saw Suarez claim a historically narrow victory.

As the podcast closed, Hamlin broached the topic of Logano and the webbed gloves that violated a safety rule. “I’m willing to say there was a whistleblower,” Hamlin said. “These teams tell on each other for sure.”

Shortly before the race began, NASCAR announced that Logano’s No. 22 car was penalized for violating Rule 14.3.1.1 of the NASCAR Rule Book. Catchfence’s Chris Knight later reported that the glove was “altered in an attempt to gain a potential competitive advantage (by sticking his hand out the window).”

According to NASCAR’s rules, driver gloves cannot be modified and must have separate sections for each finger and thumb. Logano’s gloves were stitched together in a web between the thumb and index finger, which was done to help him reduce drag when he put his hand up to his window.

NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman told Road & Track that drivers will attempt just about anything to gain a competitive advantage.

“Drivers are simple,” Kligerman told the publication. “If you told us that wearing underwear on our head would gain us a tenth, everyone would be wearing underwear on their head.”

On his podcast, Hamlin said NASCAR teams keep a careful eye on one another and won’t hesitate to let the authorities know if they see something amiss. With cameras everywhere, Logano was unlikely to get away with his violation.

“For those of you who don’t know…they call it a self-policing sport because when we’re sitting next to each other and watching videos of other cars—the NASCAR Cup Series is full of snitches,” Hamlin said. “I mean, all over the place. They tattle tell.

“If they see something that someone is doing that is illegal or skirting the rule, they’ll tell the tower right away. They’ll send that to John Probst [senior vice president of racing innovation] or Elton Sawyer [senior vice president of competition] and be like, ‘Oh, look at that.’ And they’ll say, ‘Oh, we’ll look into that.'”

Despite his penalties, Logano still had an opportunity to win. A Lap 2 caution while he served his pass-through penalty allowed him to minimize the damage, and he led for 27 laps. But on Lap 160-of-260, Logano caused a wreck by trying to block Chris Buescher, which took out both drivers in addition to Hamlin.

Logano admitted afterward that he had “made a mistake.”

“Thought I could get in there. By the time I realized I couldn’t get there, I tried turning it back down,” Logano said. “Once he starts packing air on my right rear, I couldn’t turn down. Got tight, sucked me into the wall.”

Logano could face further penalties. He is ranked 33rd in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Hamlin is ranked 19th.