The weather at New Hampshire Motor Speedway turned out to be the biggest protagonist of the opening stages of Dollar Tree 301 last Sunday. Wet-weather tires were made mandatory at the beginning, owing to the extreme conditions out there. Up until then, no one really argued, because even before the green flag was waved, we saw a spin from Carson Hocevar. But on lap 40, NASCAR’s decision to impose a mandatory competition caution had the entire racing community fuming. Denny Hamlin had to come out in support of the sanctioning body.

“Here’s another scenario. Pit Lane was wet. Like genuinely really really wet. So we come in, and we just slide right into a crew member and take his legs out,” Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast, insisting that NASCAR’s decision to freeze the order was correct.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who finished seventh, was responding to criticism from Travis Rockhold, the producer of his show. Travis felt that Hamlin and the others, being professional drivers, should not be making the mistake of running into crew members in the pit lane. He, like others, wanted to see different crew members come up with different strategies, which could have shuffled the order, adding to some excitement.

But NASCAR wanted to prioritize safety. So, when they noticed that the track was beginning to dry, they decided to have everyone switch from wet-weather tires to slicks. The pit lane, however, remained wet, and there was always the risk of drivers losing control there, no matter how good they are behind the wheel.

Hamlin did validate the concerns raised by Travis and the racing community as a whole. He admitted that most of the field was already struggling with their tires and that green-flag pit stops were moments away. At the same time, the track was not completely dry, and Hamlin was personally uncomfortable switching to full slicks under those circumstances. So, the order freeze, controlled pit stops, and the five-lap caution period that followed helped Hamlin.

“I don’t mind disagreeing, but I just didn’t see anything that was wrong,” Hamlin added on his podcast.

The whole racing community seemed to be against NASCAR’s micromanaging in New Hampshire. Kyle Larson, Jeff Gluck, Jordan Bianchi, among many others, have explicitly stated that it wasn’t something they appreciated, as it took the element of strategy out of the hands of the crew chiefs. Yet, Hamlin went against them, and it’s not the first time this year he has sided with NASCAR either.

Earlier this month, NASCAR changed its procedures to maximize green-flag racing and avoid drawn-out cautions. Under the new rules, any natural caution in the final 10 laps of a stage now automatically becomes the official stage break. Most fans criticized NASCAR for acting so late on something drivers, experts, and fans had been calling for months, even years. But Hamlin offered a different perspective on his podcast. “It’s hard to think of everything. I mean, every rule change that you implement, it’s like you never know what the cause and effect is,” he said.

The Joe Gibbs Racing star made sense, just as he did while describing the pit-stop situation in New Hampshire. But the broader community will continue to insist that if NASCAR keeps intervening in situations like this, a crucial aspect of racing — strategy — could eventually become obsolete.

Insider begs NASCAR to “stop handcuffing” Cup Series teams and drivers

Jordan Bianchi was not happy after the New Hampshire fiasco. The decision, in fairness to NASCAR, did not do any damage to the running order, but it effectively neutralized any strategy that the teams might have been planning. For Shane van Gisbergen, for example, it destroyed any chance he had of building on his blistering start.

The Trackhouse Racing driver is extremely good in wet conditions, owing to his road-course experience. He started strongly, taking the lead and building a gap of more than five seconds. But after all 36 cars were forced into the pits in the same order, he emerged in the lead, only to lose it soon after as faster cars that had previously been behind him worked their way past.

“NASCAR has to stop holding the crew chiefs’ hands. Stop handcuffing them,” Bianchi said on The Teardown podcast after the Dollar Tree 301.

“This is supposed to be the pinnacle of stock car racing. This is supposed to be the best stock car drivers, and you’ve got the great minds of crew chiefs and engineers on top of the pit box. Let them figure it out. You want to say we’re going to start this on wet tires? Absolutely. Nobody’s going to argue with that. It’s a wet track. It’s fine. Say this is a wet-weather race,” he added on the same podcast.

From a spectator’s point of view, this was frustrating because in any race, one of the most exciting moments comes during the crossover period between wet and dry tires. Who will pit first? Who will stay out? Who will take the risk and try to build on track position? These are the strategic questions that make racing so exciting.

Hamlin feels safety should always come first. But NASCAR also has to trust its drivers and teams to handle difficult situations themselves. They are professionals, and sometimes the best racing comes from letting them make those tough decisions.