Denny Hamlin Believes “Available for Hire” Dale Jr Is the Key to Fix NASCAR’s Short Track Problems
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That race at Martinsville, according to many, was atrocious. Back in the good ol’ days, Martinsville used to be all the hype of a Cup Series season and for good reason. After all, the venue has seen some of the greatest races in the history of NASCAR go down on its asphalt. However, what happened on Sunday was reportedly the exact opposite of iconic and no one seems happy about it. Especially Denny Hamlin, who openly shared his frustrations on his podcast and asked Dale Earnhardt Jr for help.
Thankfully for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Junior is just as passionate about the failing short-track racing situation that NASCAR faces. Through the help of social media, the former Cup Series racer ensured to Hamlin and everyone else that he was open to helping the situation the best he could as a driver.
Dale Earnhardt Jr is open to helping out NASCAR’s short-track situation
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Jeff Gluck’s rant about the whole short-track situation on a recent episode of The Teardown certainly echoed the sentiments of a lot of drivers and fans. The veteran motorsports journalist expressed his helplessness at the situation, as he said that the state of short-track racing was “tearing down the sport.” However, later in a moment of clarity, the journalist admitted that it was embarrassing for him to watch himself go on such an explosive rant.
While all of us can relate to that, Gluck found an unlikely ally as Dale Jr replied to his tweet.“Dude. I can relate. I’m always doing this on the download and then wondering the next day how bad I’ve pissed off the people in the big building downtown. You are passionate and love the sport. I hear a guy who wants it to succeed. Can’t fault ya for wanting what you feel is best,” the former Xfinity Series champion commented.
And perhaps what Junior said really resonated with Denny Hamlin, who urged the driver to not just show his support on social media, but get down in the mud to help. “Thanks for your feedback. Now get your ass to Richmond and Martinsville and test some tires for us,” the #11 driver’s tweet read. And like the good samaritan, Dale Earnhardt Jr is, he didn’t shy away from extending his hand either. “I’m available for hire,” read the reply.
I’m available for hire
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) April 9, 2024
Having said that, Denny Hamlin didn’t keep his appeal bound to just social media as he reiterated the need for bringing in Dale Earnhardt Jr for some good ‘ol testing to Richmond, during his Actions Detrimental podcast. The driver also slammed NASCAR for bringing in an aero package when aerodynamics was not even the problem and Goodyear for coming up with tires that took ages to wear down.
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Denny Hamlin lays out his plan of action as he slams Goodyear
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After Bristol, a lot of the drivers were unhappy with the level of tire wear, but there were a lot of positives to take from it as high tire wear could perhaps make short-track racing interesting again. However, since Bristol, the races at Richmond and Martinsville have been underwhelming. It seems like Denny Hamlin has finally snapped big time, but he laid out his solution for the issues. A
“NASCAR has their own Next-Gen car. It’s the one that they originally started with. You need to get NASCAR and their team. This should not fall on the teams to pay for fixing this. Get NASCAR’s cars, get Dale Jr and get them to go to Richmond, get them to go to Martinsville and test tires. He gets to pick up the tire that we run.“
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Stating how bringing in Dale Jr would pay in dividends, giving NASCAR its much-loved publicity, Hamlin stated, “It would be great publicity, this is Dale Jr’s tire, let’s see how it does. I think he would sign up in 2 seconds to go out there, cause he’s angry about the tires as much as I am. He brings it up just as much as I do but we clearly are missing the mark.”
Further criticizing Goodyear for not being able to maintain the balance, he said, “Goodyear is missing the mark and we clearly know that having a tire that falls off, we’ve seen it. Bristol gave us the evidence that says this is better. Did it need to go to that extreme? No. But we damn sure shouldn’t have a car leading the race with 180 laps on his left-side tires, That is ridiculous.”
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NASCAR and Goodyear will certainly consider these suggestions and it will be interesting to see if Dale Earnhardt Jr is actually called upon by the higher-ups to test some tires that would at least temporarily help with the short track situation.
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Edited by:
Ariva Debnath