On Sunday, Ryan Blaney was awarded the checkered flag, but several felt he should have received a different flag.

In a thrilling, long, and caution-filled All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway, the No. 12 Penske Ford took first place, winning bragging rights and a $1 million award.

However, there was one minor flaw: Blaney engaged in an on-track infraction that could — and perhaps should — have pushed him to the back of the group.

Blaney lowered the window netting on his car after crossing the start-finish line, believing he had won the race. When a controversial caution was thrown 100 feet from the start-finish line, the All-Star Race was sent into overtime. On the back stretch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. grazed the wall. The race had to conclude under green this year due to the All-Star Race rules, unlike previous years when it might have completed under yellow. Blaney struggled to reassemble the net.

Some analysts and drivers believe he should have been given a red flag for an obvious safety infraction. Blaney’s own squad believed the same thing. The flag would have pushed him off the circuit to replace the net, leaving some doubt about where he would have ended the race.

Runner-up Denny Hamlin took issue with NASCAR’s long-standing inconsistency when it comes to rule enforcement, ripping it for throwing the yellow only seconds before Blaney was poised to win: “While I believe Blaney should have won the race,” Hamlin said.

“Whatever the rule is, let’s be consistent and play by the rule,” Hamlin said following the race. “He should have won the race. He’s 100 yards from winning the race. …

“It’s just, all I ask is, we know what the rules are, and we play by them. Where NASCAR got away with one, is that we nearly crashed on (Turn) 2, so when I send (Blaney) head-first into traffic, and the window net’s down — I don’t know. Then they got a lawsuit on their hands.”

“It was never supposed to be a yellow in the first place. They put Blaney in his current condition. To make amends, they allowed him to break a rule. Two wrongs do not equal a right. NASCAR L, Blaney W “Hamlin used Twitter.

Other significant figures in the sport, including as Dale Earnhardt Jr., thought NASCAR went too far with the yellow for Stenhouse’s wall scrape.

He wrote, “Nascar will gladly let you debate the window net so you don’t dwell on how ludicrous that yellow flag situation was as Blaney crossed the finish line to win.”

NASCAR senior vice president Scott Miller told reporters that the yellow was thrown “prematurely” and that there was “no way for us to know” if Blaney received the net “100% latched or not.”

Blaney finished the job for real in overtime with the net down, albeit breaking a rule in the process. He also put an end to Hamlin’s plans to add a million dollars to his bank account.