What we know about why Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch were DQ’d after 1-2 finish in NASCAR’s Pocono race
The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates finished first and second at Pocono Raceway before NASCAR DQ'd them.
Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have heard about some recent NASCAR drama involving two big-name drivers being disqualified from the latest race and wondered what’s going on. That’s OK, because we’re here to help.
Sunday at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania was, for the most part, a typical NASCAR Cup Series race day — until it wasn’t not long after the checkered flag flew.
Denny Hamlin crossed the finish line first Sunday in the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at the 2.5-mile track nicknamed the “Tricky Triangle,” with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, right behind him in second and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott in third.
But then, in an exceptionally rare move for NASCAR’s top-tier series, officials disqualified both Hamlin’s and Busch’s teams after their cars failed the post-race inspection, making Elliott the winner. It was… shocking.
So although we don’t have a ton of details about what exactly happened at Pocono, here’s what we do know.