“Such a Dumb Statement”: Denny Hamlin Trashes Dale Jr’s Employee’s Proposal to Solve NASCAR’s Short Track Woes

After decades of races shortened or delayed because of weather woes, is NASCAR finally mastering racing despite the rains? Well, that’s for the future to tell. However, it seems they have a solution: Goodyear’s ability to provide teams with a tire that has greater falloff during green-flag runs. Hence, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, drivers were given the green light to restart their engines and complete the race on wet-weather tires.

During the final stage, the ‘Magic Mile’ endured nearly a two-hour delay due to persistent downpours. Typically, such conditions would prompt NASCAR to cancel the remainder of the race for safety reasons, considering both driver and fan safety, as well as the encroaching darkness after track drying efforts. But fans were lucky this time. And it looks like Denny Hamlin has now downplayed Jordan Bianchi’s tongue-in-cheek proposal to solve NASCAR’s short-track problems once and for all.

Jordan Bianchi, the co-host of The Teardown by Dirty Mo Media, in a tweet on June 24 suggested, “The easiest way to fix the short-track package is by watering the track to force drivers to acclimate to the conditions.” 

Noticing an improvement in race quality after wet weather tires widened the racetrack, Jared Allen spoke about Jordan Bianchi’s suggestion. On Actions Detrimental by Dirty Mo Media, Denny Hamlin shared, “Such a dumb statement. I know he’s joking right, but if we have to fix our short track racing by wetting the track, might as well just put dirt on them too, because we’ve done that. I don’t know. Why does it widen out? It’s because we’re trying to avoid things like paint, trying to avoid things like rubber underneath of that wet surface.”

But coming back to the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, it was significant in many aspects. With a steady downpour and thunderstorm, conditions that would have otherwise meant a premature end to the race, NASCAR opted to complete all 301 laps at the 1.058-mile track. What followed was 82 laps of enthralling action under damp conditions, much to the delight of fans.

Further talking about an incident involving Michael McDowell colliding against Chase Briscoe late in New Hampshire, Denny Hamlin also spoke about the perils of racing in challenging conditions. However, Chase Briscoe emerged as the runner-up, moving up from running 23rd at the red flag. Brisoe’s teammate, Josh Berry, who was 20th when the rain hit, finished in third place, with Chris Buescher rounding out the top five, finishing fifth, up from 13th during the delay.

Hamlin said, “That [wet surface] causes it to be slicker as well. Which is why you saw kind of in the late-race incident with McDowell. Everyone was fighting for that very top lane because it was the only remotely dry lane that we had. We’re searching for the driest pavement that we can find with the least amount of rubber in it and the least amount of paint in it. That’s why we’re spreading all over the race track.”

Moving further, the NASCAR SVP of Competition felt proud and claimed the race at NHMS was a great success. “Oh, we would have (had to call the race if we didn’t have wet-weather tires). We’d have been done with 82 laps ago,” said Elton Sawyer. “It gave us an opportunity to get back green. You know, we were up against it with daylight as well, but kudos to our teams, our drivers, our owners, and especially Mr. (Jim) France for his vision.”

“I think the way we started this whole wet-weather-tire-process was basically we wanted to get our races started on time… and we ran 301-plus laps today,” he added.

Unlike other formats, short-track racing has had its fair share of problems. However, the race at Bristol Motor Speedway was an exception, as excessive tire wear forced drivers to improvise in a manner they had never done on short tracks before. To understand what resulted in greater tire wear on the track, NASCAR and Goodyear have scheduled a tire test in July. Despite how critical fans and drivers have been towards the short track package, Dale Eanhardt Jr believes that NASCAR is heading in the right direction.

Dale Earnhardt Jr also outlines his expectations for the short-track package

NASCAR’s short track races in the Cup Series have been hit-or-miss this season. And, Dale Earnhardt Jr believes that negative feedback has given NASCAR some valuable insights, and the necessary steps are being taken to make improvements wherever needed.

In an interview with Bob Pockrass, Dale Earnhardt Jr said, “I think we’re learning a lot. I’ve been very critical of the short track package on my own content, Dirty Mo’ Media, The Dale Jr. Download. And fans have been critical, and everybody wants NASCAR to get it right and everybody’s got a different opinion, myself included.”

Speaking about the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro, Junior emphasized, “We didn’t get the desired result that we were looking for [with the softer tire] at the all-star race at North Wilkesboro. We didn’t get that desired result with the different tire combinations. But they did learn from it.” The 49-year-old concluded by hoping that Goodyear would continue to come up with better solutions. Goodyear is NASCAR’s official tire supplier.

These tires were approved in 2023 and were used for the first time at North Wilkesboro for the All-Star race. They were also used at Richmond this season.

Building a tire with too soft a compound could lead to blown tires and a compromise on drivers’ safety. While a harder tire will attract criticism that the quality of racing is suffering, Drivers, crew chiefs, and fans have not been shy about criticizing, but now, they are asking the American tire manufacturer to bring softer tires while promising to hold back on their criticism if it doesn’t work as intended.

While Dale Earnhardt Jr believes that the short-track package can be salvaged, it remains to be seen if his expectations will be met.

What are your thoughts on NASCAR’s short-track races? Let us know in the comments!