“This finishing order of Talladega was a sham at best,” said Denny Hamlin after the Talladega playoff race last October. Leading up to that race, NASCAR’s Damaged Vehicle Police was under scrutiny for ejecting drivers like Ryan Blaney at Watkins Glen or Josh Berry at Kansas for flat tires. Heading into Talladega, they decided to deviate from this, and one driver who benefitted most was Chase Elliott.

For 2025, NASCAR has made wholesale changes to the DVP, allowing cars to be towed to the pit lane and make repairs within a provided time frame. This should be a celebrated change as it levels the playing field, right? Well, Denny Hamlin pointed out an instance where this rule could be exploited. Cast your minds back to that Talladega race and you will remember exactly why.

Denny Hamlin looks to befriend the safety crew

In October 2024, Talladega Superspeedway witnessed the biggest wreck in NASCAR history. A gigantic 28-car pile-up happened near the end of the 500-lap race, with many cars left stranded with flat tires. Frustrated drivers did stationary burnouts and argued with track workers to somehow get themselves moving again. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott’s car was towed back to the pit stall, allowing the No. 9 team to make the necessary repairs. This wildly contrasted NASCAR’s approach to Josh Berry and Ryan Blaney’s incidents, where repairs were not allowed. Not only that, but Elliott getting first preference for repairs also shocked his rivals – including Denny Hamlin.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver harped on that point while dissecting NASCAR’s revamped DVP rule. Denny Hamlin broke down the new rule in a layperson’s words on an ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode: “The basic change is that you can go back to the garage now and take as long as you want to get your car fixed.” But then he pointed out the massive flaw in this rule. Despite a 7-minute allowance for pit repairs and unlimited time for garage repairs, the competition will still be strong. “The only kink in this is that it’s still going to matter when you get towed. So if there is a multi-car accident where there’s more cars wrecked, than tow trucks – the order in which you get towed will definitely matter.”

Being the reigning Most Popular Driver, Chase Elliott may be the first concern on track officials’ or safety crew’s minds. ‘Actions Detrimental’ co-host Jared Allen said, “So I would make friends with the tow truck people.” Denny Hamlin agreed with striking rapport with the officials. He added with a pinch of humor, “Yeah, when you’re doing your driver intro and you’re going around… the safety vehicles, they have their crews outside… All the safety crews come out and give us a wave as we’re doing our driver intros. You gotta give them the old tip of the hat, ‘Get me first!'”

The DVP is not the only rule that is bugging Denny Hamlin. He shared his insights on a much-berated policy ahead of the Daytona 500.

Observing the lack of integrity

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The sanctioning body’s favoritism for ‘world-class drivers’ has attracted greater waves of scrutiny. The Open Exemption Provisional will allow a renowned motorsports athlete from outside NASCAR to compete in a Cup Series race, regardless of their qualifying results. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves is the first beneficiary of this rule ahead of the Daytona 500, entering under Trackhouse Racing. However, the Brazilian speedster will not receive points or prize money for his finishing result if he doesn’t qualify via the Duels. Nevertheless, Hamlin feels granting the qualifying exemption in a crown jewel race that has a 40-car entry list is concerning.

Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and 2017 champ Martin Truex Jr. are among the other open entries. They do not have the privilege that Castroneves has despite the latter never running a Cup race. Denny Hamlin laid down his scrutiny in a conversation with Bob Pockrass: “When we go do road course racing or wherever, we might have more than 40 entries. You should definitely have to earn your way in. Especially when you’ve got some multi-time champions of our sport not being locked in, but someone with a resume from somewhere else having an opportunity to lock in, I’m not really sure that’s fair.” Even Corey LaJoie criticized this new rule.

Consistently having the sharpest eyes for details, Denny Hamlin’s insights into the new DVP are on point. As the veteran continues to dissect NASCAR’s new rule changes, let us see how Hamlin’s season pans out.