On Sunday, during the Brickyard 400, Kyle Larson appeared to evade a penalty for the identical offense Chase Elliott committed earlier in the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, raising questions about favoritism. Elliott was controversially penalized for running past the white line when entering pit road, but when it appeared that his Hendrick Motorsports teammate did the same thing, the No. 5 escaped punishment. That outraged other fans, who demanded to know why Larson was able to continue unharmed.
Denny Hamlin answered that question on the most recent episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, claiming Larson’s offense was vastly different from the one Elliott was penalized for. “I didn’t see anything wrong with Kyle’s,” Hamlin remarked about the contentious moment. “Yeah, he was on the line, but he wasn’t above it, so I saw nothing wrong with Kyle merging there, onto the surface. “I think the tie kinda goes to the runner, in that instance, so I think that on the line is fine, above it, obviously, was not.”
I believe the tie goes to the runner in that case, thus I believe that on the line is OK, but above it is certainly not.” Clearly, there was no bias in that case, but other drivers, such as Ryan Blaney, may feel differently about the conclusion of the Brickyard 400. Still, Denny Hamlin believes Kyle Larson was correct in this situation. Drivers will undoubtedly have to be more aware of that line on their next trip to Indianapolis.
