It is hard to believe that there was once a time in NASCAR when drivers were handed severe penalties for their on-track actions, especially when deliberately wrecking another driver. Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliot, Matt Kenseth, and any other aggressive driver you can think of have all been penalized.

Hailing from the era when NASCAR’s disciplinary committee’s actions were decisive and clear-cut, Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t a fan of how the sport has been functioning lately. Keeping the same in mind, the retired driver has proposed an ingenious idea involving Denny Hamlin.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wants To Be Put in Charge of Penalties Alongside Denny Hamlin

The Martinsville race weekend saw chaos erupt during the Xfinity Series race, when Sammy Smith tagged race leader Taylor Gray’s car on the final turn of the race, sending them both spinning. A multi-car wreck was triggered as Austin Hill ran to victory amid the carnage. Infuriated with the race, Hamlin took to X to share his thoughts on a race that was “absolute garbage.”

A lot more contact occurred throughout the race weekend, which seems to have become the norm of NASCAR in recent weeks. Taking note of the same, Earnhardt has humorously taken a dig at the race authorities’ effectiveness in controlling driver behavior on the track and has proposed an easy fix for the problem at hand.

Speaking on the latest episode of the “Dale Jr. Download” Podcast, the JR Motorsports co-owner claimed he should be put up in the booth that decided driver penalties. He added that his idea would also include the presence of Hamlin up there with him, and there was no room for a third person.

“They ought to let me and Denny go up in that booth and just handle, hand out penalties.” Travis (co-host) suggested that three officials are needed to finalize a decision. But Dale Jr. quickly dismissed the need for additional oversight, adding, “I would f****** do it by myself.” Travis intervened once again, but Earnhardt would shush all suggestions by saying “This is my f****** idea!”

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Further along the episode, Earnhardt brought Hamlin on as a guest and proposed the idea to him. The 23XI co-owner added that penalizing the drivers wasn’t rocket science, and most of the incidents didn’t even require revisiting them via replays. He said that there were at least three easy calls in last Saturday’s race that weren’t given.

Despite all that happened on Saturday, Earnhardt still supported Smith, who happens to drive for his team. He claimed that if NASCAR wanted to park him, they could go on and do it, but if fans expected him to bench the driver, that was not going to happen.

Given the current situation, Earnhardt feels it is NASCAR that needs to take a stand and not a team owner.

Notably, the sport has reacted to the incident promptly, but only to a certain extent. Officials have docked Smith 50 driver points and have also imposed a $25,000 fine on the No. 8 driver. The penalty drops him from sixth to 13th in the drivers’ standings, but many feel it isn’t enough.

The argument remains that NASCAR has to tighten its rulebook before drivers start taking justice into their own hands.