Two Denny Hamlin pit crew members suspended due to runaway wheel

At Bristol Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin had nothing to worry about as he was already locked into the Round of 12. Unfortunately, the race still had an impact on his future playoff races.

385 laps into the event, Hamlin's car shot up the track, collecting pole-sitter A.J. Allmendinger and causing significant damage to both cars. A replay showed that the right-front wheel disconnected from Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, rolling down the track.

Since the loose wheel caused a caution, Hamlin faced a two-lap penalty during the race, but the penalties don’t end there.

As a result of the loose wheel, NASCAR has suspended front tire changer Austin Maloney and jackman Joel Bouagnon for the next two races. However, the team will defer the suspensions one week, so while there will be no changes for New Hampshire, those two crew members will sit out the events at Kansas Speedway and the Charlotte Roval elimination race.

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images

This is standard procedure, and several other Cup teams have faced the same penalty throughout the year, including: No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford (Sonoma); No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (COTA); No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (Las Vegas); No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Las Vegas); No. 66 Garage 66 Ford (Charlotte); No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota (Indianapolis); No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (Martinsville).

During the Bristol race, crew chief Chris Gayle tried to claim the wreck caused the dislodged wheel and not the other way around.

Hamlin, who has five wins this season and 59 total in his career, leads the reset championship standings after Bristol and is 26 points above the cutline. 

There were no other penalties from the Bristol race weekend, which featured all three national divisions of the sport.