NASCAR Cup Daytona II

Denny Hamlin doesn't think he can trust timing of caution lights

Denny Hamlin finished 11th at Daytona this weekend, but he wants NASCAR to take a second look

Tyler Lauletta

Published: Sep 2, 2026, 3:10 PM

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Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

Denny Hamlin finished Saturday's race at Daytona in 11th, but Hamlin isn't certain he agrees with the result.

While race results are usually pretty simple to decipher — whoever crosses the line first wins, next gets second, and so on — the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday ended on a caution flag that came out during the final lap. When that happens, results are determined by the running order of cars when the caution light turned on.

As Hamlin said on his podcast Actions Detrimental this week, he's not sure NASCAR has totally figured out all the finer points of such a finish.

"I'm going to have a discussion, because I disagree," Hamlin said. "I think there's a syncing issue."

Hamlin explained that he thinks there is a gap between when NASCAR presses the button to bring out the yellow flag and when the caution light comes on to inform drivers that the yellow flag has been called. That gap can make a difference when cars are running at nearly 200 mph.

"Remember, they put the light in the box in the corner?" Hamlin asked. "And they say, 'Okay, the lights come on, HERE, bam.' So there's a camera on those lights. I'm saying, 'I'm telling you sir, the lights were green and we were past the No. 21 car. And he's in front of the No. 41 and me?' So I say, 'I think you have a timing issue.'"

"I think when they said they pressed the button, bam, timestamp, now let's go look at everyone's, let's look at all the cameras of either in-car or available cameras. I don't think those lights were yellow."

When Denny was shown video of the finish that showed that the televised graphic announcing a caution was public to viewers before the caution light came on for drivers on the track, he seemed satisfied.

"That's a little bit clarifying," he said. "So there's a delay then, of when the competitors actually see it. And that's a decent delay there."

Hamlin added that the result was not that important this time around, as he was already locked into the top position in the points standings heading into the Chase, but he wanted to be sure to clear up any confusion there might be before the start of the postseason.

Watch: Race Rewind: Preece wins his way into The Chase at Daytona

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