“They’re Smarter Than You Think”: Denny Hamlin Comes to Fans’ Support as NASCAR Boss’ Creates Controversy

What does a lead change in today’s NASCAR mean? In an era where caution lights, frozen field and pit cycle play a heavy role in determining this number, is it a fair mechanism to judge whether a driver is in control of the race? NASCAR and Elton Sawyer feel so. For them, this data is enough to justify or let us cover up the inefficiency of the Next Gen car on superspeedways or short tracks. While the Jack Link’s 500 was far from being a barn burner, Sawyer was boasting about the product with the stats, which don’t always show the full picture.

“Then you get looking at the metrics and you look at the stats after the race, and you have 67 lead changes among 23 different drivers. So, when we look at all of that, it’s like, what are we trying to fix? What’s not going the way we would like it?” Sawyer said this on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The race indeed saw 67 lead changes, but again, these came during fuel-saving conditions and cycling of the field after the pit stops.

Well, the sentiment among the long-time fans and many industry experts is that the superspeedway package needs a change. And, the easy fix to fuel saving and execution heavy racing on tracks like Daytona and Talladega is a bump in horsepower. Denny Hamlin has been a long-time advocate for this idea, and after hearing Elton Sawyer’s chest-thumping defence against the criticism, he couldn’t help but share his take. He couldn’t help but highlight the core reason why NASCAR, as a sport, is losing out on its fan base.

“The sanctioning body just needs to do better at listening to drivers and core fans, because they’re smarter than you think,” Hamlin stated firmly. “These core fans have been around for such a long time, they saw what it used to be. They know what superspeedway racing used to be. And now what it is, you’re not tricking them,” The veteran driver explained, adding that NASCAR cannot “gaslight” fans about what they’re witnessing.

NASCAR has cited reasons such as rising costs and safety concerns for not considering an increase in horsepower for the engines. But, that hasn’t stopped the cars from flipping in the air, we saw that with Ryan Preece at Daytona once again. Another factor that seems to have stalled any potential tweaks to the speedway package is the rumor of the fourth OEM joining NASCAR. This has been the case for so long, and Hamlin thinks, NASCAR is just toying with the fans, “The fans are losing faith in what you’re saying. Don’t put things out there that you don’t want to put out there and give them hope, just crush them and not give it to them.”

HAMPTON, GA – MARCH 18: Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Shingrix Toyota during qualifications for the Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series race on March 18, 2023 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire AUTO: MAR 18 NASCAR Cup Series Race Atlanta Icon953230318382

The conversation between Denny Hamlin and podcast host Jared Allen touched on something deeper than just race strategy – the unique relationship between NASCAR and its fanbase. “The NASCAR fan is actually probably more well-informed than any other of the major sports,” Allen noted. Denny Hamlin agreed, emphasizing why NASCAR’s leadership cannot afford to take this dedicated audience for granted: “You can’t test the trust of your core fans. No matter what the racing looks like, they’ll stick around because they may not after all.”

This isn’t the only argument Hamlin spoke out against NASCAR. Recently, he also spoke about why the teams rejected the idea  “run what you brung” for the All-Star race.

Denny Hamlin believes the illegal Next Gen car would cost teams more dollars

NASCAR, for once, allowed the teams to fine-tune their machines according to their wishes for the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Given the state of short-track racing, this was the time for the teams to build something new and convince NASCAR to add these changes to regular races. But there was a catch: the resources, R&D, and the cost of this new invention fell on the teams, and this is why this wasn’t seen as an economically viable plan for them.

Hamlin himself was thrilled about the idea at first, but when he learned about the costs that he would have to bear as a team owner at 23XI, he changed his stance. “Everyone wants to go have fun and do all these things, but who is going to pay for it? As a fan, as a driver, I wish we could do it, but under the parameters that were set, it just wasn’t thought out enough. It’s not feasible and no team is going to sign up to voluntarily lose millions of dollars.”

For the time being, NASCAR seems to dodge the real issue that they have on hand, which is the Next Gen race car. Apart from intermediate racetracks, it hasn’t delivered convincing results. So, unless and until NASCAR acknowledges the core issue, the chances are the on-track product is going to remain more or less the same.

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