The North Wilkesboro race track got a fresh coat of asphalt and is all set for some NASCAR action. But as per the reports, parts of the new surface are already starting to break up. Denny Hamlin, never one to shy away from a little controversy, stirred up a storm when he tweeted a zinger at SMI president Marcus Smith, saying, “When paving on a budget goes wrong. North Wilkesboro will be next.” 

However, Hamlin cleared the air on his podcast, explaining that his beef isn’t really with Sonoma or North Wilkesboro. The real gripe, he says, is about the hefty cut of race earnings they’re pocketing.

Denny Hamlin threw some props to ISC while spilling the beans on his beef with SMI

The whole spat with Smith kicked off after Hamlin chimed in on a NASCAR Reddit post. It was a picture showing Sonoma Raceway’s new pavement peeling up at Turn 11, which ended up axing the SRO America testing at the track—one of the 11 under Speedway Motorsports’ wing. However, Denny Hamlin recently stated that despite the fact that SMI takes away a big chunk of the revenue, they do not invest as much on the tracks.

Right now, the money split from broadcast revenues has teams getting 25%, tracks snagging a hefty 65%, and NASCAR pocketing 10%. With talks about a new deal for 2025 on the table, where teams are crossing their fingers for at least half of the TV cash, Hamlin pointed out on his podcast that this is where his frustration’s bubbling up from.

Hamlin broke it down like this, “My beef kind of with the SMI stuff is actually the opposite beef that I would have with a NASCAR. Well, I don’t… Like, necessarily the chunk of the pie that they take from the teams or would have you or the chunk of the pie that they give to the teams relative to who puts on the show. Nobody goes to the racetrack and watches an empty racetrack they go to watch the stars, the cars, and the teams.” But Hamlin’s big point against SMI was that, unlike ISC, they’re not plowing that dough back into improving the tracks.

According to him, if you’ve hit up a race at Richmond, Talladega, Daytona, Phoenix, Kansas, or Michigan in the last decade and a half, you can see the difference. From the garages to the spots where fans hang out, everything’s gotten a major facelift. Plus, all those tracks Hamlin mentioned got fresh asphalt in the past 15 years, which is no small feat. Honestly, you’ve got to tip your hat to the work they’ve done. Nothing but thumbs up for those upgrades.

On the other hand, Hamlin’s not seeing the value of the chunk of change in SMI pockets, especially when it comes to sprucing up the tracks. Sure, you might argue that they came up with the rival, which has spiced things up since the racing got a bit dull. They decided to mix things up with that track design. But #11’s driver mentioned they brought North Wilkesboro back to life with some COVID relief funds from the government.

But then, seeing the Sonoma racetrack start to fall apart right after a new paving job really got under Hamlin’s skin. He even threw down a comparison between how much SMI invests back into the sport versus what he and Michael Jordan have put into it.

Has the #11 driver really put more into NASCAR than SMI?

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Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s NASCAR squad, 23XI, is on the fast track to hitting ‘Tier 1’ status, boasting some of the quickest Toyota rides and top-notch drivers. They’ve even splashed out on a new HQ for the team. Hamlin reckons the dough he and Jordan have dropped into forming a team and pushing into NASCAR doesn’t even come close to what SMI’s been doing with their tracks.

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With a bit of a cheeky tone, Hamlin threw down, “They’re [SMI] taking a bulk of the money and whenever we go to an SMI track, from the TV revenue. And… I know personally how much I’ve invested in 23XI. I would venture to guarantee you that 23XI has invested more in the sport than SMI has invested in the last 10 years. And we’ve done it in four years. just one team have invested more in the sport. There’s a problem there. especially when we… roughly. You know, half of what… what they get on any given weekend.”

So, Hamlin’s laying out the facts as he sees them regarding the track investments. Makes you wonder: is SMI really lagging in putting back into the sport?