Denny Hamlin might’ve pulled off an upset at Dover. But as the lap leader claimed his third Cup Series points race victory, that was barely the case for the #11 this past weekend. Nevertheless, just like any Denny Hamlin victory, the 2024 Wurth 400 also received its due criticism. Some were even assumably disappointed over the upsurge of passing disadvantages, partly caused by an apparently “new” form of defensive driving the ‘NextGen’ calls the “aero-block.”

Most notably, top-5 finishers Kyle Busch (P4) and runners-up Kyle Larson were the loudest perceived voices expressing their frustrations over the aerodynamic disadvantages. Regardless, Hamlin himself expressed that his victory is looked down upon simply because he beat our favorite drivers for the 54th time.

Denny Hamlin defends the Aero Block: “It’s been around forever”

The aforementioned defensive tactic—the aero-block—occurs when a leading car takes the trailing car’s clean air from their preferred line to avoid overtakes from behind. With the evolution of the Gen 7 cars, it has grown in popularity on tracks primarily a mile and above. This defensive strategy was the preferred choice of many at the Wurth 400, thanks to Dover’s 1.03-mile high-banked concrete layout. When the race concluded, P6 qualifier Denny Hamlin seemed to benefit the most from it after leading the field from the final stage restart, beating Stage 2 winner Kyle Larson.

The Hendrick #5, a master of the aero block, believed there was nothing special about Hamlin’s victory, calling it easy. Larson also called to remove the rear-view cameras, negating the advantage gained by the leading car attempting these track position hacks during single-file advances. It’s also important to remember that Dover’s latest champion also tied Lee Petty at twelfth on the Cup Series wins list, with his 54th victory.

Additionally, as JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. rounded off the podium, besting Kyle Busch, the pole winner had his separate frustrations over a “slower” MTJ who could’ve wrecked his advances “about twice off of (Turn) 2.” And on the post-Dover release of Actions Detrimental, Denny came forward with some clear-cut opinions when his co-host asked him: “How significant is the aero blocking? Is it as significant as what social media seems to be making it today?”

“I think that I won and so there’s just gonna be b*tching. It was the restart at Richmond. It’s just always something… They asked me in the media center when I felt it started. I thought it started back in 2019 when we were running the big-a** spoilers in the 550 package on the mile and a halfs’,” explained Denny Hamlin, disregarding many claims of an aero-blocked’ victory. 

He evidences his prior experience at Kansas in 2020, a couple of years before the debut of the NextGen car, when a young Joey Logano held off a fast Kevin Harvick to initiate this newer “trend” of defensive driving. He speculates that after this race, “teams and drivers started paying attention and started studying it, and not only studying it but practicing it…” Hamlin also likened the strategy to “Mirror-driving,” a similar form of defensive driving often implemented on superspeedways where the leading car ‘mirrors’ the line followed by a trailing car, often running the lap faster. Denny asserts, “Aero-blocking is the same… it’s been around forever and you’re not gonna change it.”

Referencing Larson’s post-race comments to the media, Hamlin finally elaborated on his intended sentiments about ‘mirror driving.” “There’s no rules that you can make to change it. I saw where Kyle Larson I think said, ‘Well, you know, if they took the camera away.’ For me, I looked at the camera a few times during the race. But not very often unless I was just kinda checking my gap on a restart. So that’s certainly not gonna fix it, as long as we have spotters kinda telling us where to go. Which we gotta have those…”

Denny lays out his conclusion to Jared Allen’s initial question in an emphatic declaration, “You’re not going to keep people from doing what they know is the best way for them to win or protect their position, so it will not go away. No matter what.”

Parity concerns linger as NASCAR heads to Kansas

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Contrary to the emotions, Hamlin has often been the most outspoken when demanding changes to the NextGen vehicle. From advocating for the ‘more horsepower’ debate to even holding Goodyear accountable after unpredictable tire wear at Bristol, the #11 driver has a very respected opinion. Hence, in his latest conversations, he had some extra suggestions for the expected evolutionary changes.

Denny details, “What you have to do. The only way to get rid of this is to make it to where there’s lap time variants. That second car is just so much faster than the first car, that he’s gonna get around no matter how much you choose to aero block. You shouldn’t be able to swerve in the middle of the corner and hold somebody off. So I think that you’ve got to have a bigger variant in speed of cars. That’s the only way we’re gonna get rid of this in the long run…”

With the majority of the 12 lead changes this Sunday happening due to stage breaks, cautions, and restarts, the question of parity looms large in the bigger background of the necessary advancements. However, with another intermediate showcase awaiting fans at Kansas this coming weekend, the defending champ is “just trying to do whatever it takes to win the race(s)” As a veteran Cup Series driver rightfully explains, “And if it means driving a little bit more conservatively but the race is closer. Then that’s what I’ll do because that’s what’s going to give me the win.”