When fans watch a sport, more often than not, it’s for their favorite athlete or team. Most fans follow some of the most popular athletes in the sport, and that starts when one of them outperforms the rest. In NASCAR, this is quite difficult to notice as all the drivers use similar cars.

With not much difference in the cars, it comes down to the driver, crew chief, and the team to ensure they stand out. In the past, things were different before the NextGen cars came out, as there were still some differences that gave certain teams an advantage. The NextGen cars have made it harder to overtake each other, leading to fewer dominant streaks. While discussing this on his podcast, Denny Hamlin brought up how NASCAR has “killed star power” as he discussed its effects on the sport.

How have NASCAR’s new rules led to the demise of its star power?

Let’s start by talking about star power. The term itself means having certain figures in the sport who attract more fans than others. Having an athlete who connects with fans beyond the sport is important, as that leads to fans returning to see what the ‘star’ is up to in their practice. However, while there might be stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in soccer, NASCAR does not work like that. The recent effort from the governing body has been to ensure all the cars are as close to the same as possible. So when the NextGen cars were designed, NASCAR focused on parity.

On the post-Bristol episode of Denny Hamlin’s Actions Detrimental, the host referenced the NextGen cars and said, “But with that, you kill star power, because if everyone’s the same, who are your stars, right? You need the best to go out there and win.” Especially considering the night race at Bristol, Hamlin said, “It’s just a challenge at that track when you have cars that all run the same speed. Good luck! You’re just not going to create passing that way. That’s the downside to parity and the downside to star power—things like that, right?”

Explaining his biggest reservation with the new cars, Denny Hamlin said, “The fundamental design of this next-gen car is to create a more equal field, and while I think it has created more equality, it’s just become more of a track position race than ever.” It gets hard to overtake someone on a track like Bristol, where all the lanes mostly feel the same. Having cars that all pick up and max out at the same speed just adds to the difficulty.

Hamlin brought in an example saying, “There’s a reason why the Chiefs and the Ravens always play prime-time games, right? Because they have the stars, and people tune in to watch them.” He referenced that to explain, “You’ve got to have cars to pass. There are not enough; like Chris Gabehart said, there are not enough things for us to work on to really differentiate the speeds of the cars.”

With this, he believes NASCAR should do something to uplift the star drivers, but that brings up the question: how do you differentiate the stars from the other drivers? While that might be a question many are trying to answer, one thing became clear at the Bristol race. Denny Hamlin used to blame his new puppy Lulu for his recent bad luck, but after what happened at Bristol, those thoughts are now out of his head. Let’s take a look at what went down with the whole Lulu scenario in Denny Hamlin’s life.

Denny Hamlin redeems himself to finally stop blaming Lulu for his recent results

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Before the Bristol race, Denny Hamlin seemed to be on a downward spiral. It all started after he brought home a new dog, Lulu, at his daughter Taylor’s request. The first sign of things going bad for Hamlin was when his win at Bristol in March was nullified on the basis that Toyota Racing Development did not comply with NASCAR’s rules. After Hamlin lost the points for the race, the crew chief also had to pay a $100,000 fine for their mix-up. While this would be something Hamlin could digest if it was JGR making the mistake, it was actually none of their faults.

If the penalty for the previous Bristol race wasn’t enough, he had a couple of races where he didn’t make it into the top 10, which is unusual for someone like Hamlin. According to the driver, it all started when Lulu was brought home, and many jokes were thrown around about finding her a new home. However, everything changed after the Bristol playoff race, when Hamlin’s P4 finish not only kept him from getting eliminated before the top 12 but also put him in a safe spot to fight for the championship.

In recent times, Bristol has been a good track for Hamlin, as he has had five top-10 finishes at the track in the last five times he raced there. Now that Hamlin has scored good points with Lulu at home, it’s been deduced that she is no longer bad luck for him, and that’s when he decides to keep her around.

Looking at how Hamlin’s season is going, do you believe he will finally become a Cup Series champion after 20 years of being denied that title? Share your thoughts in the comments below.