“Almost Champion,” Denny Hamlin, Locked in Ugly Feud With the SMI President Over ‘Wasted Daddy’s Money’ Amidst the Sonoma Repave Disaster

Another day of Denny Hamlin making headlines, but this time there is a difference. While the JGR driver’s bunny-hopping for the re-start in Richmond is yet to simmer down, Hamlin this time engaged in a heavy banter on Twitter with the President of Speedway Motorsports Inc., Marcus Smith. The topic of debate is none other than the repaving of the Sonoma Raceway.

Sonoma Raceway has always held a hallowed position in NASCAR’s schedule. Apart from its lush green scenery, the 12-turn racing circuit has delivered a few of the finest races in NASCAR’s history. Nevertheless, after playing host for over two decades, the track underwent a repavement for the first time in 23 years ahead of hosting NASCAR races in June. However, it seems that the repaved track is facing a hiccup that has led to a Twitter war between Denny Hamlin and Marcus Smith.

Marcus Smith takes a dig at championship-less Denny Hamlin

With the 2.52-mile-long circuit being used for more than 300 days every year, it is a no-brainer that the track surface suffers massive wear and tear. As a result, it was announced back in December that the road course would undergo repaving and would be completed by the month of February. Keeping in tune with the progress and timeline, the old track was milled, the cracks were repaired, and a new layer of asphalt was poured over to give it the finishing look.

However, it seems that the track is far from its new look, as chunks of asphalt have started to peel away. Owing to this breakage of the surface, the scheduled testing for SRO America was scrapped to undergo further repairs. This incident resulted in Denny Hamlin engaging in a fierce verbal battle with Marcus Smith on Twitter, and the conversation turned murkier as it progressed further.

Hamlin, reposting a picture of the broken track, stated, “When paving on a budget goes wrong, NWB will be next.” To this, Smith retorted, “This is a great post from somebody who doesn’t know all the information. Ignorance on display for the world to see! I will delete this tweet when @dennyhamlin sends me a text or gives me a call directly to ask why this is happening.)“

While the conversation could have concluded with Smith addressing the fact, Denny Hamlin jumped on the opportunity and asserted, “You dont need to delete. We’ve seen your reconfig record.” Instead of calling in a truce, Smith instead stated, “Yes we take risks, sometimes they work sometimes they don’t. We’ve seen your attempt of the championship as well. When you have a chance, maybe you could give me some golf tips.” 

With the exchange becoming more personal in nature, Hamlin lashed out at Smith, expressing, “Heres your tip. Let someone else run your business before you blow everything your dad gave you.” The President of SMI, instead of watching silently the #11 Toyota’s reasoning, directed a bitter dig at the driver.

Smith added, “So proud of my dad! Hall of Famer! If he had a Twitter/X account, I don’t think his comment would be family friendy. So listen here, almost @NASCAR Champion, you keep working at it and one day you’re gonna get a big trophy! Thanks for the tip!” 

The President of SMI further added, “Following up in my previous post, our team at Speedway Motorsports has an amazing track record for working to exceeded expectations. Your nonchalant post is insult to hundreds of people that are dedicated to exceeding expectations for the Racing community, and @NASCAR fans around the world. You’re a negative comments would carry a lot more weight if you had a championship to back them up. Good luck in your quest for 2024.”

One might wonder what the inception of this bitter exchange between the two veterans was and how the track crumbled up in the present state, for one has to rewind to Wednesday’s pre-season test for SRO, especially after Goodyear’s tire test after the completion of the pavement.

Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr remains hopeful of the newly repaved track

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The Sonoma Raceway was supposed to play host to a two-day pre-season test for SRO America. However, the track started to show signs of cracking during the first day of testing. Due to this, SRO America was compelled to call off its testing. Moreover, this incident occurred after Goodyear tested its tires for the upcoming Cup Series race in June.

The tire testing was pivotal given the fact that the new and special blend of asphalt would help in the perfect wear of tires. A custom mix of asphalt from Bay Cities Grading and Paving laid down the track and brought in nearly 2,000 tons of this custom mix, while ABSL Construction handled the heavy lifting of milling the old surface away.

Speaking of the new track, Martin Truex Jr who was a part of the testing, stated, “Tire wear was part of the magic we found and what I was comfortable with so this is a whole new ballgame with the new pavement. We’ll have to approach it a little differently but still the same track and same lines. We learned a bunch today and hopefully, we’ll pick out a good tire and get to work on making the car even faster. This would be a first 5-win track if we can get it done, so looking forward to that.”

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With that being said, it will be interesting to see how Marcus Smith takes account of the breakage on the track and undoes the changes before NASCAR hits the track in June.