Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished 11th at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 held at Daytona International Speedway last Saturday. Despite his solid performance, Hamlin was left perplexed by the final standings, believing he had secured a top-10 finish based on the timing of the caution that was called on the last lap.
In the closing moments of the race, Hamlin felt confident that he had crossed the finish line ahead of Josh Berry, who ultimately took ninth place in the No. 21 Ford for Woods Brothers Racing. The confusion surrounding the caution lights and their synchronization with race timing left Hamlin questioning how the results were determined.
Although Hamlin's 11th-place finish did not impact his standing in the championship race—having already secured the top seed for the upcoming Chase—he took the opportunity to discuss the caution light situation with NASCAR officials after the race. On his podcast, "Actions Detrimental," Hamlin explained that he plans to pursue further clarification on the caution light procedures to prevent similar misunderstandings in the future.
Hamlin stated, "I think there’s a syncing issue. … The timestamp they have of when they said, ‘OK, we pressed the button here,’ that’s the timestamp. Then, we go to all the in-car cameras and they’re going to walk me through the process." He emphasized that while his points remained unchanged going into the next race, he wanted to ensure that discrepancies like this do not occur again.
During the discussion, Hamlin reiterated his belief that Berry should not have finished ahead of him or Cole Custer, who finished 10th in the No. 41 Ford for Haas Factory Team. He argued that the timing of the caution lights indicated that he and Custer were ahead of Berry when the caution was triggered.
Hamlin pointed out, "I told them, ‘Sir, I can tell you for a fact when the green light was on, the 21 [Berry] was behind me and certainly way behind the 41 [Custer].’" He highlighted that NASCAR has a camera monitoring the caution lights, which is often displayed during broadcasts, and suggested that there may be a timing issue that needs to be addressed.
Compounding the confusion, Hamlin's podcast co-host, Jared Allen, noted that the NBC broadcast displayed a caution graphic approximately one second before the actual caution lights were activated. This discrepancy raised concerns for Hamlin, who acknowledged that the delay could lead to misunderstandings among fans and competitors alike.
Hamlin remarked, "So, there’s a delay then of when the competitors see it and that’s a decent delay there. The banner on the graphic on the TV way before the yellow lights [came on]." He expressed the need for a clearer system to avoid potential controversies in future races, as differing perceptions of when a caution is called could impact the outcome significantly.
As Hamlin prepares for the Cook Out Southern 500, the opening race of the Chase, he enters the event as the points leader. In his 21st full-time season, he continues to pursue his elusive first Cup Series championship, hoping that clarity in race protocols will aid his quest.
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