NASCAR official: Out-of-bounds rulings ‘clear-cut’ in turbulent Talladega finish

By
Zack Albert NASCAR.com October 4, 2020 at 9:52 PMIt wouldn’t be Talladega Superspeedway weekend without some old-fashioned blocking, which as it turned out, wasn’t limited to the track. When the inevitable questions came about the rulings NASCAR officials made in determining out-of-bounds penalties in Sunday’s Cup Series Playoff race, eventual winner Denny Hamlin was quick to parry.

“No, no,” Hamlin interjected, his interview reflexes just as sharp as his late-race driving skill. “Called it all day. It’s a non-story.”

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If not a story, it was at least a compelling plot line. NASCAR officials penalized a handful of drivers for forcing their competition below the double-yellow line that separates the racing grooves from the apron in Sunday’s YellaWood 500, and the judgment calls were at their most prominent in the third and final overtime. And after the engines shut off at Talladega, some conjecture about the rule’s merits cranked anew, even as a top NASCAR competition official explained the final-lap ruling as “clear-cut.”

Hamlin dove low in Turn 4 to avoid a final-lap accident in a scramble for the lead; his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was not docked for the evasive maneuver, and he held on for his seventh victory of the season, advancing to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Matt DiBenedetto, however, was penalized for chopping down to push William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet below the double-yellow line as he tried to hold onto the top spot.

DiBenedetto’s apparent second-place finish was negated and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford was credited with 21st place, next to last on the lead lap. That was just ahead of Chris Buescher, who was assessed a similar penalty for crowding Chase Elliott out of bounds later in the final lap. Officials reversed an initial penalty on Elliott for traveling below the line, determining after a review that he was forced there by Buescher.

Elliott’s fifth-place finish was restored, and Buescher took 22nd — last on the lead lap after the tail-end-of-the-field penalty was assessed post-race. Those penalties followed two calls for forcing his rivals out of bounds that went against Joey Logano, who led the most laps (45) but finished 26th after a late crash.

“It was pretty clear‑cut,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, on the final-lap rulings. “The 21 (DiBenedetto) hung a left, drove those guys down below the line. We called that twice on the 22 car (Logano) during the race, so nothing different there. On the 24 (Byron) and the 11 (Hamlin) being down there, I mean, in our judgment they were down there to avoid a wreck.”