Denny Hamlin’s path to his first NASCAR Cup Series championship just got more difficult.

NASCAR on Thursday imposed heavy penalties on the team of 43-year-old driver Joe Gibbs Racing for violating engine inspection requirements. Hamlin’s team disassembled and rebuilt the engine of the No. 11 Toyota after its win at Bristol in March, which was considered an L2 (Level 2) penalty.

Hamlin and JGR each lose 75 driver and owner championship points, and Hamlin was stripped of 10 playoff points. The three-time winner — who appeared to have one of the best chances at his first Cup Series title — drops from third to sixth in the Cup standings. Crew chief Chris Gabehart was fined $100,000.

“Every winning engine must be inspected by NASCAR once the race team determines that its life cycle is complete,” NASCAR said in a statement. “In this case, Toyota Racing Development disassembled and rebuilt the winning No. 11 Bristol race engine before submitting the engine to NASCAR for inspection. Under the NASCAR rulebook, this violation results in an L2 penalty for the race team and driver. Toyota Racing Development self-reported this violation.”

How much harder will it be for Hamlin to win his first Cup title?

Hamlin has had one of the best years of his career.

Hamlin’s car, which won at Richmond and Dover after Bristol, has been one of the fastest each week. He has led a total of 896 laps this year, more than any other driver – including four-time winner Kyle Larson, who has led 821 laps.

Even if Hamlin can get to winning ways in one of the final two races of the regular season, the points penalty he has suffered is significant. Before the penalty, he had 21 playoff points and was competing for the 15 points awarded to the regular season champion, but now nearly half of his playoff points are gone.

According to The Athletic, NASCAR has stated that the Bristol win no longer counts toward the playoffs. Hamlin is still firmly in the running thanks to his victories at Richmond and Dover, but if that had been his only win, he would have been eliminated from the playoffs.

“As the engine builder for our NASCAR Cup Series partner teams, TRD is solely responsible for the pre- and post-race handling and disposal of all of our engines,” Toyota Racing President David Wilson said in a statement. “Despite procedures in place, Denny’s winning Bristol engine was mistakenly shipped back to our Costa Mesa facility, disassembled and rebuilt rather than disassembled and inspected in accordance with NASCAR rules. While we know with absolute certainty that the engine was legal and would have passed inspection, we put NASCAR in an impossible position by not giving them the opportunity to properly inspect our engine.

“We have reviewed our processes and implemented several additional steps to ensure this never happens again. TRD takes full responsibility for this serious error and we apologize to Denny, Chris, Coach Gibbs, the entire JGR organization, NASCAR and our fans.”

Who is now the favorite for the Cup Series championship?

Larson is widely considered one of the best NASCAR drivers with four wins and remains the favorite to win the Cup title.

NASCAR’s playoffs are as unpredictable as any, and the system often rewards certain drivers who get going at the right time. Hamlin, who is used to entering the playoffs as the best driver, may start near the bottom of the field and may need to win multiple races to get through the playoffs.

Larson and Hamlin have been a strong one-two punch all season – the No. 5 Chevy and No. 11 Toyota have clearly been the best cars on the track. They’ve won stages, led laps and Larson in particular has won his races in dominant fashion.

Still, Larson is not head and shoulders above the rest of the field, and Hamlin’s penalties only make things more difficult. Christopher Bell (three wins) and Tyler Reddick (the current points leader) have had fast cars all year, and these two Toyota drivers now have an even better chance of her first cup title of her career.