Denny Hamlin Exposes NASCAR’s Chevy & Ford Next-Gen Favoritism Endangering Toyota- “Doesn’t Seem Fair”

NASCAR Next Gen cars were introduced to bring parity among the manufacturers and create a level playing field. That was the idea by and large with the inception of the new car. But according to Denny Hamlin, Toyota has been handed the short end of the stick by NASCAR in their pursuit of gaining parity with their rivals. In theory, the new Camry XSE was supposed to close the gap between them and their rivals, but that has not been the case.

While Ford and Toyota were hard at work to deliver a new body and design that could give them a crucial edge going into the season. Chevrolet simply refused to go with the trend of launching new cars for the next season. Interestingly, despite not delivering a new car, all three cars taking the checkered flags in the three races so far have been Chevy. This has now allowed Hamlin to voice concerns about NASCAR’s unfair treatment towards Team Toyota, while Chevy and Ford are reaping the benefits from the Next Gen car.

Toyota’s new Camry still playing catch up to Chevrolet and Ford

It’s not the case that Toyota did not make the necessary changes to the design and body of the new Camry. But with NASCAR’s intervention and restrictions in place, they could only do so much. Given that Chevrolet and Ford have established themselves as the leaders when it comes to delivering on the performance front, Toyota hardly had any wiggle room to better themselves, as NASCAR wants all Next Gen cars to be the same.

Hamlin, during the recent episode of Actions Detrimental, spoke about the difference between the manufacturers and how NASCAR limits their progression to compete. “I mean I would agree it doesn’t seem fair but they’re trying to get all of us to drive the same exact cars. No matter what manufacturer you’re with you’re at no advantage or disadvantage…it seems like when I look at the data and stuff in SMT, down the straightaways, the Ford still are very very fast. But it didn’t necessarily translate to race speed.

“I don’t know why TV doesn’t talk about, yeah these are all new cars but they’re never going to be as good as the current Chevy, you can’t be better than that. This is the box these cars will be in for a very long time. Unless NASCAR chooses to move that line.” Hamlin went on to add.

The 43-year-old also explained in detail how Chevrolet has managed to establish its dominance. And how Ford is pulling ahead of Toyota with their newly designed Mustang Dark Horse.

Denny Hamlin reveals the differentiating factors limiting the progress of the Toyota Camry

Trending

“I Didn’t Have Any Money”: Brad Keselowski Indebted to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Favor for Building His NASCAR Legacy

“No Way in Hell”: Tony Stewart Discloses a Major Roadblock After His Baby Boy’s Birth

NASCAR Rumor: Backed by Billionaire Family, Fans Speculate Former Formula 1 Driver to Soon Make NASCAR Debut

What Is Left of Denny Hamlin’s Depleting Core After Having to Deal With a Nearly $70 Billion Worth Sponsor Loss?

Richard Childress’ Grandson in Hot Water After Worst Season of His Career Puts Family Cup Ride in Jeopardy

It is indeed true that all the teams, despite the help from their manufacturers, have to source the parts from NASCAR. This somewhat broke the trend of big-name teams and manufacturers leapfrogging the mid-pack teams, thus creating a sort of dominant streak. However, despite an attempt at a level playing field, the manufacturers still hold the cards when it comes to body design. And this is where most of the top teams like to bend the rules to gain a slight advantage on the racetrack.

Both Chevrolet and Ford have set a benchmark for pushing the limits of their cars’ body designs. But Toyota seems to have faltered in its efforts to deliver an efficient model. “When we test the Next Gen cars a couple of years ago, body of the cars. Fords had the least amount of drag and Chevy had the most amount of downforce. So they said from this point on in submission, when we built a new car, make it for the OEMs template of what they want for their production car. But you’re never going to be allowed to be better than the Chevy and you will never be allowed to have less drag than the Ford.” Hamlin said.

With just three races in the season, it is too early to predict that Toyotas are not as good as their rivals. In fact, after the two superspeedway package races, they have bounced back into winning positions. The hard part again is to convert the winning position into actual wins, which can be a tough ask given how good Chevy and Ford have been so far.

Read More: How a Botched Move Almost Gifted Tyler Reddick the First Win of the Season