“Absolutely No Excuse”: FOX & NASCAR Held Responsible by Denny Hamlin as Blunder Goes Unchecked

Back in November 2023, when NASCAR and FOX signed a seven-year media rights agreement, fans expected thorough coverage of the races. But fast-forward to May 2026, and those expectations may not have been fully met. So one can only imagine the frustration among fans and drivers when they suddenly realized key information was never shown during the broadcast at The Glen. Reflecting on the same now is Denny Hamlin.

Once the 100 laps at Watkins Glen came to a close, social media erupted over Cody Ware’s crash. As it turned out, Ware suffered a nasty crash during the final stages of the race, while Josh Berry drove away with damage to his own car. Yet the incident was never shown on the television broadcast. So who should be held responsible? Hamlin seems to have a no-nonsense answer.

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“NASCAR has to get better with that. Like, I’ve seen their control center at their production studio,” the 45-year-old said on the Actions Detrimental podcast. “There’s absolutely no excuse to not, you know, have cameras pointing in every direction of this racetrack. For you not to see Cody Ware destroyed in that final corner. Holy cow, man.

“That’s why they need to say something about that. Not just, ‘Oh, we’ll look at it.’ Well, we’re always looking to improve. Like, we’re, you know, that’s old news. Take some accountability for this one. This is not acceptable. Is TV going as NASCAR goes, or are the two parties working independently? Could TV have shown that Cody wreck, and then we see, like, ‘Oh, they didn’t throw caution for that.’ Like, that’s not a good look.”

NASCAR claims that its state-of-the-art production facility in Charlotte is the hub for race control and broadcasting operations. This production facility, which cost nearly $60 million to build, is equipped with enough cameras to monitor the safety and broadcast of the race. Not only that, but the production facility is also respected enough to earn the trust of other sports.

As a facility that produces nearly 600 live events per year, it feels rather diabolical that both FOX and NASCAR had no idea what was going on as Ware was driving his limping car around for the rest of the laps after pitting several times in order to return to action. Given how things are supposed to operate there, NASCAR officials should have immediately flagged the incident, and FOX Sports should have redirected its cameras to the wreck.

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The No. 11 driver further explained that NASCAR operates with roughly 16 to 24 screens, each monitored by officials tracking every movement around the racetrack. The sanctioning body also maintains live camera feeds at every venue to avoid any gaps in coverage, with officials constantly watching for incidents that could turn into dangerous hazards, making yesterday’s blunder entirely avoidable.

And this was not a singular incident. By the end of the race, there was an incident between Josh Berry and Carson Hocevar, causing major disagreement between the drivers. Fans had no idea what happened and were left scouring social media for onboard footage. So, it is understandable that fans called for FOX Sports’ broadcasting rights to be revoked.

Additionally, the crash was rather important in this scenario. Provided the caution came out when Ware wrecked, the race would have played out very differently. There would have been another caution, another set of pit stops, and at least one more restart. But since it stayed green, we saw SVG win by 7 seconds.

So, it seems rather ironic that the FOX Sports broadcast was able to capture a stray tent blowing away in the wind, yet somehow missed Cody Ware’s crash. The more pressing issue, however, is that no caution flags were thrown afterward. It’s a debate NASCAR fans are passionately engaged in, but without an official broadcast angle, the situation becomes muddy and confusing.

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Now, this isn’t exactly the first time fans have witnessed a scene like this. Last year at the Chicago Street Race, Ware crashed hard into a tire barrier. And given that he was buried deep in the barrier and couldn’t get going again, NASCAR waited to throw the caution, which drew heavy criticism from fans.

However, when it comes to Hamlin, he does not appear to have much confidence in NASCAR’s judgment on the matter. After closely reviewing the footage, Hamlin was clearly frustrated.

Denny Hamlin revisits old ghosts at Watkins Glen

Taking a jab at Mike Forde, Hamlin said:

“All right. I don’t know. Well, I’m sure they’ll—Mike Ford will come up with some statement on it.”

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Even the commentators were baffled that Ware’s crash did not trigger a caution. They initially expected yellow flags to come out, only to quickly reverse course and say no action would be taken.

For the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, the situation was like a scalpel reopening old wounds. He once lost a championship because of an untimely caution, along with his only chance to say goodbye to his father as a championship-winning NASCAR driver. Not only that, but during the 2026 season, Hamlin again came up short against Tyler Reddick at Kansas following an overtime restart.

So, in his eyes, it was rather disrespectful that NASCAR would choose not to take any action in this case and allow SVG to have a free run to the finish line.

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