Denny Hamlin Blames NASCAR’s Obsession With Parity Endangering Drivers & Causing “Conveyor Belt Racing”

NASCAR introduced its new short track package at the Phoenix Raceway last weekend. In theory, it was supposed to make the races more competitive. However, with the new Next Gen car in place, the task looks ever more daunting, given how similar the cars are these days. What this has led to is the growing trend of pack racing and leaning on aerodynamic tactics. And like many veteran drivers, Denny Hamlin is not a fan of such racing experiences.

For the most part, the race at Phoenix was pretty clean. But it did have its ebbs and flows. As soon as the race started to reach its climax, cautions plus restarts became a recurring theme. Apart from the leading Toyota group, all other cars were unable to make the pass, thus leaving restarts as their best shot to jump positions. This again highlighted how the Next Gen car’s almost identical traits restricted drivers from delivering a more competitive race.

Denny Hamlin explains the hard realities of driving almost identical race cars in the Cup Series

From a statistical point of view, the Phoenix race last weekend had the greenest flag passing of the Next Gen car era. However, Hamlin was still not sold on the idea of the car delivering the output that most drivers desired. Instead, he explained the negative aspect of rolling into a race with an identical car, running across different venues and racetracks.

Speaking on his podcast show “Actions Detrimental,” Hamlin explained, “NASCAR seems to want parity, they want everything to be the same, the negative to that is that you’ll have everyone running the same lap time and no one passing. You’ve got to have, the haves and have-nots if you want actual passing.”

He suggested that parity is not a bad option to have, but NASCAR should accordingly consider the venues. “At some tracks, parity is good right where everyone’s the same; that’s Atlanta. That’s why you see those finishes at Atlanta and maybe some of the other tracks. But on the short tracks, it can cause this type of conveyor belt racing that we just see. In what happens to negatives is that we have less side-by side racing, so there’s less accidents.”

The JGR driver, while making this argument, also highlighted how parity has caused a massive shift in the style of racing. One that is not entertaining for the fans or the race car drivers.

Hamlin shed light on the unfair advantage a lead Next Gen car holds over the trailing pack during the race

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Pack racing is not a new phenomenon in NASCAR racing; it has been around for a long time. However, since the roll-out of the Next Gen car, the trend seems to have upped a notch, with more and more drivers and teams incorporating these tactics during the race. Detailing the impact of the Next Gen car’s aerodynamic feature and its practical impact during the race, Hamlin added, “If there’s no slow cars and everyone’s fast, passing will be difficult because then it will be about air“.

“It is about air because the first place car or the car in front has such a dramatic aerodynamic advantage being the car that takes the air first. The second car is at a deficit, the third car is at a bigger deficit and not till you catch lap traffic, does it level out the field but then you’re just running around in a roller skating ring because then we’re all getting dirty air and no one’s going anywhere.”

As far as the newly rolled-out short-track package is concerned, judging its impact just based on the Phoenix race wouldn’t be a fair judgment. The race at Bristol Motor Speedway the coming weekend and the race at Martinsville will provide a better perspective on how improved the new changes are.

Read More: Denny Hamlin Believes His Detrimental Mistake Rigged Phoenix Outcome- “We Would Have Won”