It’s no secret that the Daytona International Speedway coupled with fast cars can be a recipe for disasters. And that’s just how Superspeedway racing is! Especially on tracks like Daytona, the best of the best struggle to complete all laps. Look at the Cup Series race. We had a driver who was P8 on the final turn (William Byron) take the checkered flag after the race leaders wrecked out. And Denny Hamlin was leading back then. So if this can happen with seasoned veterans of the Cup Series, it’s bound to happen in the lowest one too.

Ahead of the Cup and Xfinity series, the ARCA series raced there. They started out with 40 cars, but by the end, there were barely 20 on the track. So you imagine the chaos. But still, Hamlin was a bit too harsh about it. Mid-race he wrote on X, “wonder if the casuals at home watching Fox right now are thinking that this is NASCAR. Yikes.” And Hamlin’s rant just escalated after the race. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought it was a bit too much!

Dale Earnhardt Jr rallies behind the ARCA Series

Hamlin is of the opinion that the ARCA drivers are not worthy of a track as prestigious as Daytona. Post the race he said, “Don’t get me started on the ARCA race. Can we get those guys off that track? I’m sorry, but inexperienced drivers should not be running 190 miles an hour at Daytona. It’s just not — it’s unsafe for all. It’s just that race, it does not belong on that track. That is a lower series that needs to be running on short tracks.” We get the inexperience bit, but ARCA is NASCAR’s developmental series. So, for those drivers to get some Superspeedway experience can actually be good. The only thing is that NASCAR should take care of the safety concerns.

And Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks Denny doesn’t need to be such a harsh critic. On the recent Dale Jr. Download episode he said, “I was mad about it 10-15 years ago you know the things that I hear Denny saying today. Those were my post-race comments after Talladega after Daytona back in 2012, 13, 14, 15…I disagree (with Denny Hamlin) because I just believe that let’s not. That’s probably unnecessary to go to that length. I believe that all of the classes (or series) they got to reimagine the entire way we approach restrictive plate racing.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. argues that there is just not enough passing on Superspeedways. The drag is so much that drivers can’t get out of the files to make passes. So in such cases, even the most experienced drivers can’t run faster than in-experienced drivers…causing the ruckus. “All of the series no matter what series ARCA Trucks Xfinity or Cup they all suffer from this. We have we have choked everything down and put so much drag on the bodies that they can’t get away from each other. A good car can’t drive away from a bad car. Yeah, an experienced driver can’t distance himself from a guy or a girl who doesn’t have the experience,” Junior added.

Which was the case in the ARCA race. Lawless Alan is a youngster, but he’s got the experience running part-time in the Truck Series. So, things were fine for him as long as he led the pack. The moment he dropped back after some pit stops…he was in the mix of inexperienced, slow drivers. And eventually got wrecked. That’s perhaps why Denny Hamlin’s solution is to keep it simple.

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Denny Hamlin’s solution for the ARCA madness

Before we get to Hamlin, Junior goes on and on about how the ability to break the draft would solve things. Basically, the wrecks happen because experienced and inexperienced drivers are too close to each other. Going bumper to bumper, that’s a minefield. But if the faster guy is able to break away from this and create some gap with the slower drivers, the wrecks won’t be as much. And this is not just for ARCA. We saw in all the series how the field crashes in a domino effect.

And Jr feels the cars are the problem, “Now the cars are so draggy and the engines are so stifled that everybody’s all over the top of each other, and that just leads to some of the silliest crashes that are just so unnecessary.” But Hamlin thinks the right solution is to not let the ARCA series race here or on any high-speed tracks.

Hamlin said, “You want to put them on an intermediate? Fine. But, you know, those drivers have not nearly enough experience to be on that track, running those speeds. I know it’s easy for us to just, you know, trash on it, but it’s not their fault. They’re trying to do everything they can. I just don’t — I just don’t believe in, you know, putting very inexperienced drivers on a track running that fast is a good idea, for anyone’s health or wellbeing.”

And Hamlin is correct with the safety point. We might have not seen any fatal incidents, but why wait for them? If they want to host the lower series here…maybe only let the best drivers attempt. Anyways the field is getting cut to half, so why not just start with half the field? 20 of the top drivers in the qualifying race in the main event. That would increase the racing quality and also minimize the safety concerns.

What did you think of the ARCA race at Daytona? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.