Denny Hamlin Gatekeeps Teams’ Demands From NASCAR After Being Delivered False Hope

It’s no secret that pressure has been mounting on NASCAR officials to bring in a number of changes to the Cup Series package. From Jeff Gluck’s rant on the state of short-track racing to Denny Hamlin’s altercation with SMI President Marcus Smith over the state of Sonoma Raceway, tensions are brewing between fans, drivers, and officials over the future of stock car racing. But that’s not all.

Ever since the charter negotiations came to a grinding halt, the teams have also begun to pressure the officials into making decisions. Though NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell recently claimed that charter negotiations were in fact ‘really close’ to being finalized on paper, Denny Hamlin once again called out the executives over their ‘positive messaging’ that he believes isn’t truly ‘real’.

Denny Hamlin dismisses Steve O’Donnell’s charter negotiation claims

Since the 2023 season ended, NASCAR officials such as Steve O’Donnell have been highly vocal about all the major changes the sport aims to bring to improve racing. From the inclusion of a fourth OEM to talks of Goodyear improving the short-track package, a lot of ideas have come out of the official camp, but unfortunately, none have been implemented to the promised level. That said, another statement made by NASCAR officials was called out by Denny Hamlin, this time regarding the ongoing charter negotiations.

When asked about his knowledge of the charter negotiations conclusion, Hamlin pulled no punches against O’Donnell’s optimistic outlook. He shared with FrontStretch, “I have not, no, there are still those four key elements that I haven’t seen NASCAR brought up and what our ask has been, they haven’t addressed those or haven’t conceded to any of those so I think its positive messaging more than its actually real.”

Although the 23XI co-owner didn’t specify the four elements he was talking about, it’s safe to say Hamlin’s reaction to the COO’s comments means that reality may not be as butterflies and rainbows as NASCAR is making it out to be. While veterans like Jimmie Johnson believe that we’re only in the early stages of the negotiations and it’ll take a considerable amount of time before an agreement is made, Denny Hamlin believes NASCAR should resort to more transparency with the teams, fans, and the media.

After taking a look at Hamlin’s blunt disapproval of Steve O’Donnell’s comments, it’s safe to say that the teams aren’t backing down from getting what they deserve. But as the Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, Hamlin believes that the biggest losers at the end of the day may just be the fans.

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‘For the fans’ sake, I hope it’s not a lot‘ – Hamlin fears fuel-saving shenanigans may ruin the Talladega action

As the Cup Series returns to the third drafting track of the season, Talladega, for the GEICO 500, the NASCAR community fears one major factor of superspeedway racing that could end up hampering the on-track action for fans. At a circuit like Talladega, track position is of utmost importance if a driver wants to stand a chance to visit the victory lane. So when Denny Hamlin was asked about the probability of fuel-saving shenanigans plaguing the GEICO 500, the answer wasn’t what fans were hoping for.

Looking back at the previous super-speedway races and how many drivers saved fuel until the very end, Hamlin felt a similar fate lay ahead for the Cup Series drivers at Talladega. He shared with FrontStretch, “For the fans’ sake, I hope it’s not a lot. But we’ll probably have some, just simply because that’s the nature of the game. You want to have the smallest pit stops possible because it is such a track position race. The days of Dale Earnhardt going from wherever to the front just isn’t possible with the way that we draft in the Next Gen cars”

Ever since the Next Gen car was introduced, drafting and staying behind the slipstream of the car in front has taken a higher priority in terms of race craft, with most drivers finding it impossible to overtake at the superspeedways without running close to the front. Reflecting on the strategy that we’ll most commonly see this weekend, Hamlin concluded; “It’s all about track position and we’re just doing everything we can to have that pit stop as short as possible and we found that not running a 100% through the entire race helps us do that, so not until that last pit stop will you see us kind of going all out”

With Denny Hamlin expecting the GEICO 500 to consist of several fuel-saving strategies, do you think the Cup Series race will be as entertaining as the Xfinity race?