During the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday there were at least one or two cautions that left drivers scratching their heads, including a Stage 2 caution that came out when Daniel Hemric blew a tire and got into the wall.
Though Hemric didn’t come into contact with any other cars and his car didn’t seem overly worse for the wear, NASCAR threw up the caution.
Denny Hamlin was close by and was of a mixed mind on the caution.
“It was close,” Hamlin said on Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin podcast. “He did hit the wall, but I think there’s, I don’t know how long we had gone green during that moment, but I’m always of the opinion that if we go really long stretches of time without a caution, be aware you’re going to get one for something superficial at times.”
In other words, in a different set of circumstances that might not have been a caution. But NASCAR had gone green for quite some time, so eyes were out for anything that might trigger one, like Daniel Hemric’s misfortune.
Several others had blown tires without a caution, including on laps 132, 165 and 174.
Arguing in favor of the stoppage, though, and playing Devil’s advocate, Hamlin raised a few other points.
“Did they hit the wall, though? You know what I mean? Like the 31 hit the wall,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know that he brushed it, but he hit it pretty good. I was right somewhat near him when this happened. Yeah, it’s just, it certainly did not help some of the leaders, but the 12 had pitted and then he came back and won the race. So I think that it’s still the fastest cars found themselves up front at the end.”
One driver who was not at all happy about the Daniel Hemric caution was Christopher Bell. The No. 20 lost a lot of valuable positioning as a result of the caution.
His crew was heated over the radio.
“That was the most ridiculous bulls*** caution I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief. “You had 17 guys blow tires and you have one guy blow another tire and you throw the f****** caution. That’s chickens**.”
For Bell, though, there were numerous problems, including the fact that his car was not running well on new tires throughout the evening.
For Hamlin, the Daniel Hemric caution flag was perhaps unfortunate for some but certainly not overly unfair given the conditions that triggered it.
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