NASCAR: Denny Hamlin penalized ahead of Martinsville playoff race

Denny Hamlin will not start today’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway in third place like he was initially slated to.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was initially slated to start this afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series round of 8 playoff race at Martinsville Speedway in third place thanks to the starting lineup formula, which NASCAR is not currently slated to use again beyond today.

However, that went out the window after his #11 Toyota failed pre-race inspection twice ahead of the 500-lap Xfinity 500 around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) oval in Ridgeway, Virginia.

As a result, Hamlin, a five-time winner at the track, is set to drop to the rear of the field on the pace laps leading up to the green flag of today’s race.

Because he was due to start on the inside lane, he is set to drop to the tail end of the inside lane and line up in 37th place in the 38-car field.

Here is what Hamlin had to say about the matter, according to NASCAR.

"“It’s just kind of a roll-your-eyes moment. It’s like … can we just have a nice, smooth day? That’s all I want is just a nice, smooth day. Last year here, we dominated the race and then didn’t tighten all the lug nuts on the left-front, so I just want to be able to control my own destiny. That’s it.”"

Fortunately for Hamlin, he is set to enter today’s race 32 points above the Championship 4 cut line in third place, and he is 31 points ahead of the fourth place driver, an important number in case of a winner from below the cut line this afternoon.

Here is the updated starting lineup for the 2021 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Starting Lineup
1st – Kyle Larson
2nd – Chase Elliott
3rd – Joey Logano
4th – Martin Truex Jr.
5th – Kyle Busch
6th – Brad Keselowski
7th – Kevin Harvick
8th – Ryan Blaney
9th – William Byron
10th – Kurt Busch
11th – Alex Bowman
12th – Christopher Bell
13th – Chris Buescher
14th – Austin Dillon
15th – Bubba Wallace
16th – Ross Chastain
17th – Michael McDowell
18th – Tyler Reddick
19th – Chase Briscoe
20th – Daniel Suarez
21st – Matt DiBenedetto
22nd – Aric Almirola
23rd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24th – Cole Custer
25th – Ryan Newman
26th – Ryan Preece
27th – Corey LaJoie
28th – Erik Jones
29th – Cody Ware
30th – B.J. McLeod
31st – Josh Bilicki
32nd – Anthony Alfredo
33rd – Justin Haley
34th – Joey Gase
35th – Garrett Smithley
36th – Quin Houff
37th – Denny Hamlin
38th – Timmy Hill

Hamlin is listed at +500 to win this afternoon’s race on WynnBET, tied for the second best odds with Kyle Larson and trailing only teammate Martin Truex Jr. (+300).

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NBC is set to broadcast the Xfinity 500 live from Martinsville Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this afternoon. Begin your free trial of FuboTV today!