Should Hamlin been given his spot back at Dover?

In a scene right out of Days of Thunder, Clint Bowyer decided to play judge, jury and executioner during the Nationwide race at Dover, and took away a possible victory from Denny Hamlin after he bolted from pit road and slammed into the No. 20.

Bowyer will be put on probation, and appropriately so, but what about Hamlin? He undeservedly lost 58 points because Bowyer decided if he couldn't win, Hamlin wasn't going to either, regardless of who was actually at fault.

This is wrong, and something should be done about it.

There is no reason NASCAR couldn't have put Hamlin back in his second-place position for the restart. Hamlin's car wasn't damaged; Hamlin never went to pit road; he stayed on the track after the contact but had to restart mid-pack.

Everyone in America knows Bowyer was out for vengeance, so why was Hamlin punished for Bowyer's selfishness? NASCAR should have done the right thing and given Hamlin back his position.

I understand the fear of this opening a Pandora's box when it comes to racing -- but it doesn't have to. Keep it simple and make it apply only under caution.

It's simple -- if you are purposely taken out under caution (and save the 'How do you know?' argument, because it's ridiculous) and you can continue without making a pit stop, you get your position back.

Hamlin will take a huge hit in points because of Bowyer -- and that just ain't right.

Rubbin' is racin' -- and so is puntin'.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the argument behind giving Denny Hamlin spots back after Clint Bowyer's blatant punt on Saturday. I also am hopeful that Bowyer gets what's coming to him from NASCAR. Still, giving Hamlin spots back opens up a huge can of worms.

If Hamlin was given back second place, where does the line go from there?

If someone gets put in the wall during a big wreck at Talladega or Daytona, do they get their spots back, as well? After all, in most cases, drivers who are victimized at those tracks often aren't the drivers who cause the wreck.

If a person running in the top 10 runs over a piece of debris on the race track, or their engine overheats because of a stray hot dog wrapper, do they get their spots back? After all, the spot they're in is not of their doing?

What do you do if someone running at the back of the pack suffers a similar fate? What do they get?

The bottom line here is simple. Right or wrong, classy or not, what happened Saturday happens during the course -- and the heat -- of competition. Athletes are victims of questionable moves in every sport, every day.

What's more, NASCAR famously gave drivers the "have at it boys" directive at the beginning of the season. After that, giving spots back after an incident like this would kind of take the teeth out of that statement, wouldn't it?