Why NASCAR has to crack down on post-race burnouts

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Suddenly NASCAR cares.  At least about post race celebratory burnouts anyway.  Last Sunday Denny Hamlin scored his first Cup road course victory.  The win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Cheez-it 355 came in the second road course race of the season and two months after Hamlin lost the road course race at Sonoma on the final corner after being shoved out of the way by eventual race winner Tony Stewart.

Sunday, Hamlin led 10 laps and was finally able to score his first Cup road course win (Hamlin won a NASCAR Busch/Xfinity series race on the road course in Mexico in 2006). After Sunday’s race , Hamlin did a celebratory burnout that ended up shredding the rear tires on his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and he had to walk to victory lane as the crew replaced the tires and pushed the winning car to him to complete the celebration. And why shouldn’t he celebrate? After all, it was his first Cup road course win, and he was suffering back spasms that almost forced him to miss the race entirely.  He also survived challenges from Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. in the waning laps. So Hamlin, who also won this year’s Daytona 500 had a lot to celebrate.

His long smoky burnout along the frontstretch didn’t just shred his back tires, it put on show that had fans cheering MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.