Denny Hamlin made some scathing comments on his latest podcast, ripping competition in the Daytona 500 and NASCAR Cup racing in general, and even calling out media covering the sport.
Hamlin admitted he was not in a good mood during Monday’s taping of Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin. A three-time Daytona 500 winner, Hamlin had a great opportunity to win Sunday, running second on the final lap, But he got involved in the inevitable huge crash that always seems to mar superspeedway races.
A look back at that final lap shows just how close Hamlin came to winning.
Instead of winning, Hamlin finished 24th.
“This is one of these mornings I woke up full Clint Eastwood, ‘Get off my lawn.’ I’m just so f****** angry,” Hamlin said. “I woke up pissed, and it’s about everything. Now I know why drivers retire. I have that feeling.
“I spent decades learning how to do this, watching the best, studying it and understanding it, and I’m going to get rewarded for this, and then we all crash at the end. That has become normal in the Daytona 500. That’s what kills my enthusiasm for the whole thing.”
Hamlin said that NASCAR superspeedway racing now is far more luck than skill, and he added that also applies to NASCAR’s postseason format.
“I hate the fact of how much luck is involved. … It’s just a matter of wrecks at superspeedways,” Hamlin said. “And I feel like the Daytona 500 is a microcosm of the sport in general when it comes to how we crown our champion now as well.”
The veteran driver, who has 54 NASCAR Cup Series victories, blamed NASCAR for making design changes to the cars in recent years that encourage pack racing. The racing looks better on TV, but it creates havoc for drivers.
“It just for me has gotten to the place now … the entertainment of it has far overtaken the sport of it. And I don’t know how we reverse things,” Hamlin said. “Now, they’ve slowed us down so much to where every car is just planted to the ground. Which is why we’re going down the straightaway just absolutely ramrodding each other from behind. It’s a product of the cars are way too easy to drive. They have way too much grip, way too much drag, and what it does is it creates a great optic on TV — these cars are two-by-two, three-by-three, but ain’t nobody passing nobody.”
That kind of racing encourages risky moves that create huge wrecks. Hamlin called out the media for not criticizing drivers who cause those pileups.
“You will hear all week from media, ‘That’s just superspeedway racing,'” Hamlin said. “And all that is, is a cop-out for those who make stupid moves. No one holds anyone accountable anymore. You chalk it up to, ‘Eh, it happens all the time.’ How about we actually call out what it is. Are the cars making us do this? Are the drivers doing this? It’s a combination of both, I believe. But, I’m losing my love of the sport of it, because I feel like it’s going by the wayside for the sake of entertainment.
“Why has it become expected that we’re all going to take each other out. You won’t hear any media holding anyone accountable for making ridiculous moves. … we don’t hold anyone accountable, because it happens year after year after year.”
Luck is always a part of any sport. Hamlin’s definitely not happy to see it play such a prominent role in the Daytona 500.
“It’s just such a f****** crapshoot now,” Hamlin said. “I hate that what is supposed to be our most prestigious race, is luck. And I don’t care how else you want to say it. It is luck. You just have to avoid the wrecks. … I don’t know anymore. I’ve grown really, really agitated with how we’ve gotten here.”