Denny Hamlin recently shared his admiration for NASCAR commentator Leigh Diffey after an exciting Cup race at Daytona. Diffey, a prominent figure at NBC Sports, is celebrated for his extensive broadcasting experience, including coverage of the Olympic Games, INDYCAR, and IMSA.
Hamlin drives the #11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and competes full-time in the Cup Series. The Virginia native began the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from the 19th position but found himself caught in a multi-car crash during Stage 2, resulting in a 38th place finish. This unfortunate turn of events allowed him to catch all the action at Daytona through NBC’s broadcast, where Diffey was on commentary.
During a recent episode of the “Actions Detrimental” podcast, Hamlin was asked about Diffey’s impressive performance in the commentary booth at Daytona. He enthusiastically responded:
“Fantastic! Oh my gosh, can we sign him up for all 36 races? Can we just make that decision at NBC or NASCAR? Just say, ‘Hey, let him do every race,’” Hamlin remarked [at 55:24].
“He’s just incredible. He has a knack for capturing the moment. I can’t quite explain it. The best commentators know how to adapt their voice to the situation. They adjust their tone and the pace of their commentary, right? That’s why he was chosen to cover the 100 meters at the Olympics, because that’s his specialty and he excels at it,” Hamlin continued.
Leigh Diffey has stepped in as the new commentator for the Cup Series, taking over from Rick Allen, who previously covered both the Cup and Xfinity series. With Diffey’s entry, Allen will now focus exclusively on the Xfinity Series broadcasts.
As the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona approaches, Denny Hamlin faced a penalty from NASCAR due to a mistake made by the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) team, which involved unauthorized modifications to his race-winning engine from Bristol. This penalty has resulted in Hamlin dropping to eighth place in the Cup Series standings.
“Just a huge swing for us,” Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on the recent NASCAR penalty.
Hamlin received an L-2 level penalty after TRD disassembled and reassembled his victorious engine from Bristol. TRD has accepted full responsibility for the incident, clarifying that Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) was not aware of the situation.
The #11 team was penalized with a loss of 75 regular season points and 10 playoff points. Additionally, Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gabeheart, was fined $100,000. In a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin discussed the ramifications of this penalty, stating,
“You might think, ‘It’s just a 10-point penalty.’ But it’s more than that. Look at where I am now—eighth in points. I was in the running for the regular season championship, which would have given me 15 points, and now I’m likely to get only 3. This is a massive shift for us. We could be missing out on 16 or 17 points per round, and we know how crucial those numbers are when it comes to the cutlines,” Hamlin explained during the podcast [9:20].
Moreover, Hamlin mentioned that he has decided not to appeal the penalty and is now focused on making up for the lost points in the playoffs.
