Denny Hamlin Blames NASCAR for Lack of Transparency After Forcing Teams to Open Their Books

The NASCAR community erupted with controversy a few days ago when Denny Hamlin called out SMI CEO Marcus Smith. For quite some time, disapproval between team owners and the sport’s administration under NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports has been on the rise. Fast forward to April, and it all reached a boiling point after the tarmac at Sonoma Raceway began to give way.

But that wasn’t all. NASCAR is under major pressure from not just team owners but also insiders like Jeff Gluck, who went on a rant recently about short-track racing. Now that the sport seems to be gaining popularity and sponsors once more, fans have just one question; why are tracks falling apart and why are teams not profiting? With that said, Denny Hamlin took this opportunity to point out Speedway Motorsports and NASCAR’s secrecy with their own revenue and spending.

Denny Hamlin and Marcus Smith sidelined online spat to discuss financial specifics over lunch

Lately, Denny Hamlin’s frustrations with NASCAR have reached their limits. While it wouldn’t be strange for track maintenance to fail in quality once in a while, Hamlin believes that the sport’s business goal just isn’t aligned with that of the teams. Whilst SMI and NASCAR might be in close talks over their split revenue, the reasons behind the sport’s failure to cover the team’s expenses still remain in the dark.

On the latest episode of Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin took fans over his grievances with the officials about the transparency of their spending. He stated, “The race teams had four or five representatives on the financial side compare notes and say, ‘What is everyone really spending to make this show happen’…(…)..and so we came back and said, ‘Here’s the number,’ and their offer to us falls way short of that.”

Despite teams transparently sharing their accounting books with NASCAR officials to make a case to cover their fixed costs, the sport ultimately gave them an offer that wouldn’t suffice. He stated, “That puts tons of pressure back on us to then have to sell tons of sponsorships just to break even.” With the sport denying to split more revenue with the teams, the 23XI co-owner confronted Marcus Smith in person to discuss team owners’ grievances.

He shared, “Went to lunch with Marcus. I tried to explain to him, ‘Here’s why we have these struggles, Marcus. Here are our numbers’. He asked me, ‘What do you think we make?’ I said, ‘I can estimate, but what are you being so secretive about? I don’t understand…(..)…Why can’t you be as transparent as what we’ve been back to you guys at NASCAR about our costs?'”

READ MORE: “He Has That Flaw” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Dissects the Role Denny Hamlin Played in His “Unfortunate” Spat With Marcus Smith

While Hamlin didn’t get any satisfactory answers, he believes he knows why SMI and NASCAR are being secretive. Going further, he also shared the exact reason he lashed out at the SMI CEO.

Despite pointing out SMI’s flaws, Hamlin calls his X ordeal regrettable

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Hamlin explained that the key reason for NASCAR and SMI being so secretive was the amount of revenue that was coming in. He stated, “It’s secretive because it’s a big number. They make a lot of money.” Even after making so much revenue, Hamlin was furious to know the sport wouldn’t increase their split with the teams. But what made it worse was the expert opinion on the tarmac failure at Sonoma Raceway.

The 23XI co-owner stated, “So that’s where my frustrations stem from and it’s why I got triggered when I saw that picture of Sonoma. I’m no paving guy. But plenty of paving guys chimed in on what they say, and all of it was, ‘They didn’t spend money, they didn’t do it right’, and so, why aren’t you investing in to do it right? That was my problem with it and stems obviously from other stuff.”

However, Hamlin revealed that all the emotions surrounding the lack of transparency had impacted his actions on X. He shared his regrets, saying, “I definitely shouldn’t have chimed in, I guess. I don’t know, sometimes you need to get people talking about something to get change. I certainly regret the personal stuff for sure, but it’s just very agitating as someone who’s invested a lot of money into the sport over the last four years to see how these three parties, it’s just frustrating to see how it’s all run.”

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Whilst it’s safe to say Denny Hamlin’s frustrations have reached their limit with NASCAR and SMI, will the sport respond with a closer look at their books? Or will the secrecy continue?