Consecutive speeding penalties end Hamlin’s shot at victory

Denny Hamlin has earned a reputation in recent years of speeding on pit road too frequently, and the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota saw his shot at a victory evaporate with back-to-back speeding penalties Sunday at Talladega. On green-flag pit stops with fewer than 50 laps to go, Hamlin headed to pit road from the lead, along with a host of other cars. Hamlin had meticulously worked his way through the field to lead 11 laps and was in position to control the pack the rest of the race. RELATED: Full race results The veteran, though, was issued a speeding penalty (and it wasn’t close, according to data tweeted by NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell) on that stop. Pit road speed at Talladega is 55 mph, and NASCAR officials will allow a 5 mph tolerance. Hamlin, who has three speeding penalties this season, was tagged at 67.22 mph. He compounded that mistake by speeding again while coming down pit road to serve his pass-through penalty, which resulted in yet another trip down pit road to serve that penalty. Hamlin dropped from first to running in the 30s and a lap down once pit stops cycled through, effectively ending his shot at victory. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver managed to work his way back to the lead lap and finished 14th. Stenhouse Jr., who was penalized on the same stop as Hamlin but did not speed a second time, finished fifth and was in the lead pack battling for the win.