NASCAR must draw a clear line with driver penalties

Objectively, Chase Elliott's one-race suspension for Monday's Coca-Cola 600 incident in which he appeared to hook Denny Hamlin on purpose is the right call. The problem is that it's inconsistent with past NASCAR rulings.

It was only months ago that Hamlin, ironically, was docked 25 points after he drove Ross Chastain into the wall at Phoenix. The penalty was not for the contact itself, but rather for Hamlin's later admission that he intended to do it. NASCAR's message was made loud and clear: pretend it was an accident and you're golden.

So that's what Elliott did, but but it wasn't enough. It's extremely rare for NASCAR to suspend drivers over green-flag incidents in which they don't admit to deliberate cause. The only others in recent memory were Matt Kenseth at Martinsville in 2015 and Bubba Wallace at Las Vegas last year.

In both of those cases, the drivers left no doubt that the contact was 100 percent intentional. Elliott's incident was a little more subtle, though, perhaps around the 90-95 percent range. There's an argument one could make—not a very convincing argument, but an argument nonetheless—that he simply lost control of his car.

In the past, the intent behind such a wreck would've been deemed too difficult to prove without a confession. Because Hamlin (who attempted a similar stunt last season) complained loud enough, though, and because NASCAR likely wanted to avoid a PR nightmare in which it would be accused of playing favorites for Elliott (the sport's most popular driver) they reversed course on their own principles.

Again, Elliott has only himself to blame for his consequences. Yet many others continue to escape them. So enough with the judgment calls, NASCAR. A firm, unambiguous rule must be made and it needs to be made now.