Denny Hamlin Calls Out NASCAR’s Underhanded Tactics With 4-Word All-Star Race Demand

Back in 2014, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said something that stuck with fans for years. Talking about the All-Star Race purse, he laughed, “If you can reach out and grab somebody, you will get pretty aggressive for a million dollars.” He even joked about how his dad took the prize money when he won as a rookie in 2000. The thrill of chasing a $1 million payday once lit a fire under drivers. But a lot has changed since then.

The excitement around NASCAR’s All-Star Race has cooled. And last year’s event made it worse. The 2024 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro was supposed to bring the magic back. It didn’t. Fans and drivers were frustrated by the lack of action. Joey Logano led 199 of 200 laps. Passing was nearly impossible. Goodyear’s new option tires didn’t make a difference. And even a mid-race brawl between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch overshadowed the racing.

However, NASCAR tried to defend the race and introduced new tweaks for 2025. This year’s edition includes two heat races, extended laps, and a “Promoter’s Caution.” There’s also a Manufacturer Showdown and a fresh take on qualifying. Still, not everyone’s buying in. Denny Hamlin, one of NASCAR’s most vocal drivers, has issues with the entire idea. When NASCAR floated a new “run what ya brung” format, Hamlin rejected it and made his own demand — one that sparked new debate.

Denny Hamlin draws the line!

This year’s proposed All-Star Race came with tweaks. NASCAR pitched a rule package allowing more freedom in car setup. Teams could run their own dampers, choose their nose weight, and swap in various single-source parts, as long as they didn’t build anything new. Mike Forde, NASCAR’s managing director of communications, explained it like this: “You cannot build new parts. Everything still had to be single-sourced. But there was a list of things that we were going to allow teams to do.”

Forde believed that teams wouldn’t need to spend much. He said some teams could even use “hand-me-down” body panels. But Denny Hamlin wasn’t sold. On his Actions Detrimental podcast, he said the costs would be way too high. “When they said that to me, they said, ‘Hey, they’re talking about doing a run with your brother for the All-Star,’ I was like, ‘Oh, sweet. That is gonna be sweet.’ And then my team said, ‘Um, hey, this is… here’s the side effects of that. Here’s what we’re gonna spend.’ And I’m like, we can’t do that. We can’t afford to do that.”

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The Joe Gibbs Racing driver didn’t stop there. He made his demand clear: “Triple the prize money—let’s do it then. You can’t just pay the same for the last 30 years and say, ‘You know, we’re gonna open it up, and you can spend whatever you want to win the race.’ It’s just gonna be an arms race of whoever’s got the most money they’re willing to spend and actually have the resources to do it. I mean, you know who those teams are.”

Notably, since its inception in 1985, the NASCAR All-Star Race has seen a notable evolution in prize money. The first winner took home $200,000, which was a major payday at the time. By 2003, that amount had grown to $1 million—a figure that has remained unchanged for over two decades. However, when adjusted for inflation, that $1 million prize from 2003 would be worth around $1.64 million today, showing that the real value of the reward has actually decreased over time.

Hamlin believes that this might help big teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Team Penske have more chances with their amazing financial backing. And he isn’t wrong, in recent times, multiple NASCAR teams, especially smaller ones, have reported financial struggles. The new rule might have troubled them more as they would have been forced to build something just for a night. However, Hamlin isn’t alone who wants some serious changes in the All-Star race format. Two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr also chimed in, but not just to support Hamlin. He had his own solution.

Dale Jr. believes the All-Star Race needs a radical shakeup. He offered his take on the Dale Jr. Download. He said the race doesn’t need Next Gen cars. Instead, he wants NASCAR to switch to cheaper cars—Late Model Stock Cars. “I wish Harvick and all these other drivers could come back and run it. The way for that to happen, and that’s not what would be more financially reasonable, is to run a cheaper car,” Dale said. His goal is to bring back retired legends, cut costs, and improve the show. But his plan, like NASCAR’s, has hurdles. Still, Junior believes something has to change—fast. As drivers and fans continue calling for innovation, Hamlin’s push for higher pay and Dale’s idea for simpler cars are gaining traction. But there’s still disagreement—especially between the two stars.

Dale Jr. slams Hamlin’s $2 million claim

As conversations around NASCAR’s All-Star Race format heat up, Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t holding back—especially when it comes to Denny Hamlin’s recent comments about the cost of participating in NASCAR’s proposed “run what ya brung” format. On his Dale Jr. Download podcast, Earnhardt took aim at what he saw as an overblown reaction from Hamlin regarding the financial strain of the idea.

“That’s overstating it. I think it would cost the teams some money for sure, but not $2 million,” Dale Jr. said bluntly. He went on to say he believes Hamlin is using the cost angle to push another agenda. “I think that’s just a heavy excuse to say, ‘Yeah, this is why I didn’t want to do it’… I think he is overstating the cost to make a point… He’s already mad about the damn purse being $1 million for 30 years.”

Still, despite pushing back on Hamlin’s figures, Earnhardt agreed with the spirit behind Hamlin’s frustration. He praised the idea of letting teams experiment more and bringing back some technical freedom. “Had a great show talking all about that, with such great insight, helping us understand why the races at Daytona and Talladega look the way they look. … I thought it would be kind of neat to open the rules up a little bit.”

While the two veterans may disagree on the numbers, they seem aligned on one thing—something about the All-Star Race needs to change. Whether it’s a bigger purse, looser car rules, or a totally new concept, both Dale Jr. and Hamlin agree: NASCAR can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

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