What are the rules behind NASCAR ordering Denny Hamlin to complete sensitivity training?

On Tuesday, NASCAR officials announced that Denny Hamlin will begin the sensitivity training process after posting a racial meme from the show ‘Family Guy’ directed towards Kyle Larson.

According to NASCAR’s spokesperson, Hamlin must begin the course by the end of this week.

Here are the rules that NASCAR has in its Cup Series rule book and which states:

“NASCAR Members shall not make or cause to be made a public statement and/or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person's race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.”

Member actions that could result in a fine and/or indefinite suspension or termination:

“Actions by a NASCAR Member that NASCAR finds to be detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR.”

“Statement and/or communication made public (including social media platforms) that demeans, criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person's race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI Racing team co-owners' post used a stereotype of a female Asian driver. Hamlin’s post came after Larson’s move in the last lap at Talladega Superspeedway which led to a mishap between his 23XI Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace Jr.

Toyota, the automaker that manufactures all cars for JGR and 23XI Racing, issued a statement late Tuesday. It stated that they have spoken to Hamlin about the tweet and will support NASCAR's decision to mandate sensitivity training for him.

See the Tweet below:

“We have spoken with Denny Hamlin regarding his tweet from yesterday. Toyota supports NASCAR’s decision to mandate sensitivity training for Denny and we will all move forward together.”

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Denny Hamlin apologizes after deleting his illogical post

Denny Hamlin, one of the highest-profile drivers in NASCAR, found himself in a storm after posting about Larson.

The 41-year-old driver soon deleted his post and later issued a statement saying that he took down the post as it was offensive and it was a poor choice of meme which came across totally wrong and that he was sorry.

See the tweet below:

“I took down a post I made earlier today after reading some of the comments. It was a poor choice of memes and I saw how it was offensive. It came across totally wrong. I apologize.”

However, Hamlin is a good friend of Larson and his meme didn't seem to be intended to hurt Larson. But the way he used it was against NASCAR’s policy.